Seasons of War
by MagiLiv
Summary: An inopportune attack on the day of their anniversary savages what Natsu and Lucy have come to know. While Natsu's eyes are set on the war, there's altercations moving behind the scenes. Soon, a battle between countries becomes more than anyone could imagine. Secrets are uncovered, myth becomes reality, and the fear of losing everything is inevitable. Fantasy alters reality.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Life fluctuates in ways mankind has yet to control. It creeps behind you, slithers beneath you, and races past you in a demeanor they yet to identify. It speaks, whispers, and shouts with a language humanity cannot encode. It smells. It touches. It sees with eyes that cannot be seen. Life is erratic, it is mischievous with a deed. They wait for the next second of their lives, waiting for an outcome they will never be able to predict. A move to the left, a whisper to the right, changes the course of reality in a split second. A command, a shout—changes lives.

Sometimes even takes them and never returns.

But in the split of the moment, human kind takes it for granted. They waltz with life, some by the hand and others dragging it by its ears, taking for granted what it's capable of. They deny the fact it can change or worst, be taken away from them. They selfishly live throughout their years, their months, seconds and days expecting another. Never realizing when it won't come to them.

And in the split of the moment, you live. Because that's all you can do.

Magnolia was bursting with energy. Behind it were the days of winter, snow, and the insufferable wind. The days of heavy cloaks, gloves and hoods were gone. Now, the people rejoiced in the summer heat. Children raced past the vendors of the town, their bare feet digging into the dirt beneath the grass. Not too far behind were their mothers, shouting for their well-being to deaf ears. The market was flourishing, as it always did during this time of year: fruits, vegetables, spices, cloths, jewels—the line of stands seemed never ending.

Lucy's eyes skimmed past a vendor who eyed her feverishly, motioning towards the mannequins he'd dressed with exquisite gowns. She only smiled in return while Natsu pulled her forward. Her arm was looped through his, and given the heat, she pulled him closer. He didn't mind, but she wasn't so sure he'd even noticed. Natsu's eyes gleamed—and she was fairly sure it had little to do with the sun and more so with the food vendors aligned in any little space they could fit their stations.

It was just another ordinary day.

The people of Magnolia accommodated the summer solstice with a festival. Of course it never lived to that of the Capital's grand gesture, but the citizens of Magnolia basked in their feast and festivities. Young and old, they all made their sole destination the Sola Tree, the heart of the festival. From where the couple walked, the tree protruded amongst its surroundings—they weren't far now.

Natsu took out the white parasol from the bag he had at his side. "We're almost there, I promise," he said as he opened the laced umbrella and handed it to the blonde girl. She only smiled and nodded. In reality she didn't mind the distance or the walking at all, her mind was drifting on Cloud 9 and wasn't coming down any time soon. Her head rested against his shoulder and she felt him take a deep breath.

Even now it seemed a bit strange, Natsu and her. For so long they had been nothing more than friends with a relentless bond that would not break. It was still there along with the mischievousness, but now it pulsed with a new vigor—love. And while the summer solstice marked the first day of summer, it also claimed their second year of marriage.

But the impulsiveness and blinded innocence still managed to keep its hold over the young man. The two years did not go without its hand of problems from the shenanigans Natsu managed to get into. Yet she loved him all the more.

Where their anniversaries were concerned, Natsu's antics always seemed to seep through, too. For some strange reason he first believed an anniversary should be celebrated each day—for they were together another day, right? Did that not warrant celebration? So, for a full month Lucy indulged in the most outrageous and bizarre surprises: from a day in the zoo (in their backyard), to a night seeing the stars—in which he found it with great humor to kidnap her in a guise of a serial killer and then late reveal himself—to her name being carved on the side of Mt. Selima—although now just the L faintly remains thanks to the Town.

For a month, Natsu believed every day they spent together was another day to celebrate big. And then it was every month, until finally he grasped the idea—that while very flattering and considerate—big festivities were held reserved for one day during the year, the day they wed.

So now, a second year with him, Lucy's nerves were put to ease. A picnic was what she wanted under the Sola Tree. Nothing more. So he worked to accomplish that because all he ever wanted was to make her happy.

But on that day it was more than just an anniversary for two. It was the announcement for the birth of another. One they would both share.

She smiled to herself at the thought and lightly squeezed his arm, he looked down and kissed the top of her head, almost bumping into the spine of the parasol. Lucy bit down from laughing, Natsu was always one to be a klutz.

By the time they reached the Sola Tree the sun had gone down enough for a large shade to dress itself at the base of the trees's trunk and below its skirt of pine green leaves. Across the grounds people were scattered on blankets, chairs, flying kites or playing a game of volleyball. The park was encompassed between two bodies of water on either side, where the Fern river cut through. The sun's ray turned the water into a glistening sapphire jewel dimpled with ripples. Those not taking refuge beneath the Sola Tree were splashing in the cool water.

They took an empty spot against the trunk as an older couple left. Natsu took the parasol from Lucy's hands and closed it as she lay down the blanket and placed the basket at the center of it.

Not seated for two minutes, Natsu's eyes shifted from the closed weaved basket to the girl's almond colored eyes. "Can we eat?" He reached for it before she could answer and Lucy only put her hand over his.

She raised a finger and shook it. "Not yet," she said, a small smile on her face. "I have to tell you something first."

Natsu nodded and looked at her eagerly, waiting for whatever was more important than being served food.

"I'm-"

Something exploded and the picnic basket fell on its side. Then there was another—Lucy's ears ringed—and not long after that—why was the ground shaking so much?—, another. Three consecutive hits within the same vicinity. The mindless chatter and laughter was subdued with silence for a moment and then the screams began.

Natsu was at Lucy's side quicker than she could have blinked, his arms protectively around her head and body as he pushed her down on the grass. Against her back, she could feel his chest rise and fall with every shaking breath.

The sound was bone turning. It drummed in her ears and vibrated through her skin as the other wave came. She grimaced under Natsu's weight, forcing herself to not be scared. He only cursed under his breath and held her tighter.

And the screams were only louder—people rushing out of the river, dropping their stuff and heading for somewhere—anywhere. The ground was still shaking—why was it shaking—no, it was her. But it hummed, beneath her fingertips, the ground hummed with a growing beat.

The silence that followed after each hit was saturated with screams of people from the town, but Lucy's voice was not one of theirs, and neither was Natsu's. Instead he kept whispering in her ear to take deep breaths, that he was there to protect her. But the screams were making it harder to breathe and so was Natsu's grip and his body—she felt her chest tighten more with each take. He wasn't heavy but the pressure of it all was making everything too difficult and she didn't know if it was because of the heat or because she was just scared or—

Another explosion, closer this time. Close enough for Lucy to bounce against the grass. Natsu looked toward the general direction and cursed louder this time. He lifted Lucy to look at him but she couldn't, all she could see was how vacant the park looked now—why were they still here? They needed to go, they had to go right _now_, or else, or else—"Look at me," her eyes were wild while his were filled with suppressed fear. "It's okay," he said as he pushed back her hair. "You can be scared, there's nothing wrong."

But he was wrong, completely and truly wrong. Not soon after his words did the sound reach their ears. Guns. She knew the sound all too well, machine guns and the sound of their steel bullets ricocheting off buildings and those that didn't found their home inside the designated targets. Natsu looked frantically around, a man was running past them and towards the mess of it all. He called out for him twice, the second time he stopped.

His words were mute against all the ringing in Lucy's ears but Natsu heard: he told them that they were being attacked, Tartaros, the land across their sea, had finally made its move. There had been tension between Fiore and the rogue Kingdom of Tartaros, but no one had imagined that they would attack. Let alone invade a merchant city overflowing with civilians and oblivious pedestrians.

"They're recruiting people right now for the militia, I'm heading there now." He said before leaving. Natsu watched him go until he turned the corner and then his eyes were back on Lucy.

She looked so small, so fragile in his arms. He couldn't leave her alone but if he didn't…

"I need you to go home." And the words cut through her like ice. "Don't stop running. Don't stop for anything or anyone, got it? Lock the doors and don't open them under any circumstances, shut the windows and hide in the closet until I get home." The tears began welling up behind her eyes and this time she wasn't strong enough to hold them back, she managed to nod. "I need you to be even stronger right now, Lucy." He told her and only her. The pink haired boy drew her against his chest and held her like it would be his last. "Please, don't stop."

She continued to nod, biting her fist so she wouldn't make any noise. He kissed the top of her head and then her forehead until he reached her lips. He hovered there for a moment, taking her in as she was then. Young, beautiful, and strong in more ways than he could ever consider himself. "I love you," he told her. "I'll be back home."

Finally, her eyes found his and held him there. "Why are you saying that? You're talking like you'll never come back. Natsu, you can't just say—"

More screams, more guns and then silence.

Natsu was pulling himself away from her, backing up towards the direction where the man had left just moments ago. He mouthed a single word to her before she turned and obeyed him, "Run."

6


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Lucy ran. She threw her shoes to the side and kept running, even through the forming blisters and the pleading of her feet. She ran through the now empty streets of Magnolia, only stopping and tripping when she came across a body and then _bodies_, dozens of them. Thrown or up against buildings, some bleeding from the nape of their neck, others clean through the head, the worst was when she stumbled across a child. Not much older than seven, his insides falling out of an open wound in his stomach. She picked herself up, ripping a piece of her sundress and shoving it in her mouth. She would not scream. She could _not_ scream.

Seeing her home, the small cottage that fit just the two couple, was like seeing an oasis open up after being lost in the grip of the desert. She stumbled her way up the hill but made it, her hands shaking anxiously as she shoved the key through the door and threw it open. And then shut.

She didn't waste a moment. She compelled to everything Natsu told her before their departure. She shoved a drawer in front of the door, barricaded the windows, and then hid inside the closet that encompassed their winter coats in a row above her head.

Her chest was heaving and her whole body trembled as she pulled down one of Natsu's coat and held it against her stomach. Lucy screamed into it and cried. Squeezing her eyes as tight as she could, afraid that she was going to rip them apart. But the image of the bodies... and the little boy. They wouldn't leave the hold of her brain.

After hours of crying she lay there, her body curled up into a ball facing the opposite direction of the door. Natsu hadn't returned yet. But she wouldn't think about it. He would come back, he said so himself. She pressed his coat against her eyes and took in the scent that was Natsu Dragneel. Spices and lit embers.

"I'm pregnant," she whispered into the coat before falling asleep.

She was awoken by the disturbance of wood against wood and the creaking of a door. Footsteps, hard and determined, moved through their home. Lucy reached for whatever she could use to protect not only herself but the little person just beginning to grow inside of her. Her life wasn't only her own anymore.

The nerves had dwindled down enough for her to focus at the task at hand. She wasn't afraid anymore. She wouldn't run this time. She'd stand and fight. Her hands managed to disconnect the metal rod supporting their coats and she clutched it with both hands. If she crouched down she'd have the upper hand of surprise, especially if he were male.

So she waited until the steps stopped in front of the door of the closet, they hesitated longer than she would have wanted. But the door was opening now and Lucy was ready to jab the rod— it struck air as the intruder jumped back.

Lucy's eyes traced the long legs back to Natsu's dirt covered face. Blood smeared his brown button down and peppered across his new pants. "N-Natsu," she said too low for him to hear.

He only laughed, "Were you trying to keep me from having kids?—"

Lucy jumped on him, locking her arms around his neck and squeezing until he tapped her to stop. "You're bleeding," she said frantically when she pulled away. "I'll get the med-kit—"

"Lucy," he stopped her. "Wait, it's not mine."

Her fingers touched her lips and nodded, "Okay." Natsu took a wide step towards her but she stepped away. "Don't," she whispered. He tilted his head to look at her face, "What's wrong?"

"You left me alone to go play hero."

"Lucy, they were _attacking_ us!"

"I get that but I'm your... I'm your," her head was spinning and even if she tried, air wasn't making it to her lungs. "Oh god," she said and then she was in Natsu's arms. He moved her to the couch he placed in front of the drawer that blocked the door.

"Lucy. Lucy," he called her name. "I'll bring you water."

"No," she pulled at his sleeve. "I'm fine, it's just— too much."

Natsu nodded gently and stared at her, his eyes filled with concern and question. "I'm fine," she repeated and he looked down at his hands. "I'm going to join the army."

It was a slap to the face. One she didn't really think she could jump back from as quickly as she did after her mental-breakdown. "The army?" she asked. "Are you mad, Natsu?"

"I'm not. I'm not going to sit here and let them attack us again, Lucy." He took her hands in his, kneeling down on his knees so he could be in eye-level with her. "I could've lost you today. If there's any chance of me being able to save you and hundreds of others, I want to take that opportunity."

Her eyes overlooked their entwined hands before she looked at his eyes. He was serious and more serious than she had ever really seen him. This was something that meant more to him than she could know, let alone fully understand. So she did what she promised to do in her vow, support him through every choice he made until her last breath.

"You'll come back." It wasn't a question rather than a demand.

He grinned but not like he did when they were walking to the Sola Tree— had that been just a few hours ago? "I promise."

"Alive."

He nodded and leaned forward to kiss her lips. "Now it's your turn. What were you going to tell me before..."

_Everything in our lives completely tilted right before us, _she finished in her mind for him.

She looked down at her lower stomach and then up at him. She smiled and shook her head, "to be honest, I forgot."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

That summer was one of the hardest for the young blonde. It wasn't only Natsu but all her friends who went and joined the militia, eager eyes and set hearts. She expected it from all of them, they all wanted to fight for something. They saw their lives as an item to give back to those around them.

If she had been the only one she would have joined them, fought alongside and pushed the enemy out of their once safe home.

But her decisions had to be made now considering two people.

Natsu was deployed two weeks after the announcement and she still hadn't told him about the baby. She didn't think there was a reason to. Telling him would only hold him back from accomplishing one of his goals and that was something Lucy would never forgive herself for.

So even when the day came and she walked him to the train station, hand in hand, she kept her lips pursed in a coerced smile. Until then she hadn't realized just how much the two talked, whether it be about minuscule, irrelevant, profound or contradicting things, there was never a moment of silence between the two. But right then neither of them could bring up even the mention of the weather.

While Lucy's mind and heart was a ranging storm of lightning and tsunamis, outside was just the opposite. The breeze was non-existing but the sun wasn't so strong that afternoon so it was okay. The sky leaning over their heads was peppered with white wispy that blended into the sky's face. But no amount of radiating suns and silent whispers of wind could lighten the load on their shoulders, though. Beneath their shoes the dirt and gravel crunched and moaned as they placed their weight over it. The lead on her chest only became heavier as they neared the wooden steps that led to the boarding area of the train station.

Her eyes drifted to the river at her left, wedged between a lifting green hill and inclining land on its right. The sun kissed it and left its mark with white gleaming freckles on the facade of the water. They could head north, move straight following the bending path of the river all the way until it blended with Worth Woodsea. They could hide, become refugees among the trees and create a new life for them and the baby. They could do it, just the two of them.

A rope was being pulled inside her, reminding her that it wasn't only her decision but Natsu's as well. And he wasn't one to runaway from a fight.

When they reached the landing of the train station she more or less believed her nerves would have flown past her. She couldn't tell if she was feeling anything anymore, everything had gone numb. Natsu turned to look at her and when his eyes gazed down into hers, there was a slight bitter comfort in the shared numbness between them.

Lucy pushed a smile that reached her eyes, "It's gonna be okay."

A breathless laugh escaped the hold of his lips, "I should be telling you that." He bit his bottom lip and looked down at their hands before getting down on one knee. Her stomach tightened. But he just kissed her hand as if he were proposing again like that day two years ago. "I promise I'll come back."

She didn't think she could hold it anymore, his face was so close to her stomach. So close to the growing child inside of her. If she didn't tell him now, if she didn't speak up and tell him the truth—

The train roared back to life calling it's first warning for departure.

Natsu's eyes were eager with no hint of regret. She had to do it.

"Natsu, I—"

"The train departs for Clover Town in three minutes. Three minutes!" the conductor called.

"I can't believe I'm actually doing this," he said turning back to her. He squeezed her hand and held it to his chest. "I'll make sure to kick three times as much Tartaros ass for you, Lucy."

Her hand slipped from his and she hugged herself, looking down at the steps. "Natsu, I gotta tell you something."

"Not really excited about the train," there it was, the little glint of regret in his eyes. "But it'll be worth it." And it was gone.

"Natsu—"

He only reached for her waist and held her closer, these three minutes were the last he would be able to hold her like this. They both knew. And the thought only cracked the container of happiness Natsu was feeling. It wasn't that he hadn't realized this before, he knew the second he made the decision. But now that there was only minutes left until he was gone, and Lucy would be alone until forces above knew how long. It was hitting him gut first and with no mercy.

And she was so small in his arms. Why wasn't she hugging him back? Didn't she realize the importance of skin-ship in those last few moments?

"Natsu, I'm pregnant."

There it was. The merciless hit that clutched him in the center of his stomach, just below the rib-cage and above his pelvis. A cool and sharp hit, a frozen dagger stabbed through him. A lot of times when news hit you people talk about the heart, how it's always the one to hurt and feel heavy with lead. But Natsu felt nothing in his heart, just his stomach and chest. He could actually feel the weight of the bags of lead being released and splashing around his body.

Natsu separated himself from her, looking at her with eyes ready to jump out and run from his sockets. He gripped her shoulders tightly and only realized he was doing it when Lucy made a sound. "You're… you're pregnant?" Natsu asked bewildered.

She wasn't looking at him, why the hell wasn't she looking at him? A few feet from them the conductor called one minute. "Why the hell didn't you tell me before I made the decision to go, Lucy! You knew and didn't say anything!"

Her eyes were glassy and he bit down on his tongue until he felt the iron taste of blood in his mouth. He shouldn't be yelling at her, he should try and understand her motives. And time was running up…

"All aboard!"

Natsu cursed under his breath and pulled Lucy in for one last embrace. "I'll be back home." She nodded against his chest, her tears soaking the tan t-shirt he was wearing. "I love you," she whispered.

And when they kissed that was all he kept saying back to her. Those three words were pressed against Lucy's forehead, her chin, her cheeks, saving her lips for last. He crashed his mouth against hers in a very clumsy way and their lips parted, all the way he kept whispering how sorry he was and how much he loved her. And he was crying and then Lucy was crying and their tears reached the sunder of their lips and she tasted the wet salt of it. But she didn't mind it at all, all she minded was when the train began to move and Natsu stepped back. Looking at her one last time before jumping for the railing and pulling himself over onto the train.

She wiped her own tears where Natsu would have done it for her.

And watched him starring back at her until he was just an insignificant dot in the distance.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

It is September 23rd, 5:34 p.m.

There's a knock at her door as she prepares dinner for the guests she's invited over, Wendy and Juvia. She unties her apricot apron and hangs it on the closest chair as she maneuvers her way out of the kitchen and to the door.

It's a young boy, no older than the age Wendy was when they first met.

He extends his hand and hands her a white envelope that's been worn with weather and time, the scars of travel. She takes it from him before shutting the door gently and stares down at her open hand. The address was written in the same messy handwriting she has somehow come to learn to decipher and know like second nature.

_**Lucy Dragneel**_

_**77 E Faron Hill**_

_**Magnolia, Fiore**_

It took her everything not to rip open the letter and read its contents in the blink of an eye. She placed a kettle on the stove next to the pot where her food was just beginning to simmer, and began to boil chamomile herbs for tea. It had been almost three months since she saw, let alone heard, of Natsu. She placed a hand on the barely distinguishable bump, her first trimester was over and she was moving well through her second one. Alone.

Not completely at least.

Wendy was there for her, the blue haired girl was young and busy with her internships at the hospital, but she had been there with Lucy as comfort while Natsu was away. Juvia was around as well, feeling the same anguish as Lucy was feeling as her Gray was sent out to the battlefront.

Natsu hadn't been sent there, yet.

He was still stationed somewhere west, staying only for a month in Clover Town and then moving with the militia up through Mount Hakobe and then further west until they reached Dawn City.

Dawn City was only a resting point. Throughout the journey he would be training and then when they reached Dawn City it'd be a place of determining who was strong enough to go into the fronts or stay behind to station in towns or cities to protect the denizens. Lucy, along with everyone at home, knew just how strong Natsu was especially when his mind was set on a goal. He would be on the front lines come spring.

And for her sake, she hoped it'd be sooner to have him back home with her.

There was a whistle from the kitchen and she sprang out of her thoughts and over to the steaming kettle, shutting the heat and pouring herself a cup. The letter was laid flat against the worn lime green table. Nostalgia burned through her as she set the cup of tea down and took her seat across the envelope, as if it were a guest rather than a piece of flimsy stained paper.

Her fingers trembled as she took a letter opener and sliced the envelope open, slowly slipping her fingers through and digging out the white sheet of paper that remained unscathed and touched. Unlike the envelope that had taken all the damage and been handled by more than one pair of hands, the letter had been touched by Natsu and Natsu alone.

_Dear Lucy,_

It read.

_I don't really know when this letter will get to you, I'm hoping a little after your first trimester. Don't ask about how I know that (Erza was the one to cue me in on all the need-to-know-stuff when it comes to having another baby human inside of you) Really thinking about that is kinda weird, like we made that little person in you and it's growing __**inside **__of your body. Pretty freaky._

_But good freaky, I swear I am in no way trying to make our little peanut feel bad about themselves._

Lucy lifted her head to the ceiling and shook her head, a smile that hadn't been seen in the months Natsu was gone, finally submerging.

_I've been thinking about you a lot lately. That's kind of an understatement, I think about you all the time and the little life you're carrying inside of you. I miss you a lot. I don't think I should really waste space on this small sheet of paper telling you something you already know, but it feels good reminding you. I love you, too. (Because I know you're going to say it back when you read this)_

_I hope you're doing well on your own, I know you are. Because I didn't marry just any damsel in distress but a warrior and survivor. You were well off on your own long before I came along. There's not much I can tell you about where I am, though I can tell you we started moving to begin our training. You can figure it out from there._

_If I board one more train I swear on my left foot I'll commit accidental murder._

_The nights are cruel, especially now that summer's faded and taken away all the warmth. The afternoons and mornings aren't as harsh but when it rains, boy do you feel it. Forces above, I miss you._

_I miss your smile (I hope it hasn't completely vanished). I miss the touch of your fingers running alongside of my neck. I miss the crinkle of your forehead when I'd do something you didn't like. I miss your laugh, you found it annoying but it always managed to make me laugh even more. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I miss you bossing me around and telling me what to do and what not to do. I miss our fights and our apologies. AND I MISS YOUR FOOD!_

_I also miss not being on transportation more than I sleep._

_If you send me a letter back (which I hope you will because if you don't I'll find a way to hurt you in your sleep), send me some food with it too please. Anything you got on the stove boiling or steaming- FRYING WOULD DEFINITIVELY BE BETTER! Send it all over. No hesitation, got it? _

_And Lucy?_

_Don't worry too much about me._

_Yours,_

_Natsu_

She pressed the letter against her chest, over her heart, all the while making sure it didn't crumble beneath her palm. _Yours, _he had signed.

"And mine alone," she whispered to the empty kitchen. She would send a letter and soon. The only thing that had been holding her back was the fear of making him worry or regret his decision to go on. She didn't want him to know she was going completely mad with worry without him. But now that he had sent a letter...

Lucy was reaching for a piece of paper when a knock on the door made her nearly drop her tea over Natsu's letter. She cried out and then carefully placed the letter back into its encompass and tucked it away into the pocket of her dress.

Wendy and Juvia were at the door after she had peeked through the curtain, holding a plastic container and another box that was poorly hidden. She let the girls in, looping her arms around them and squeezing them tighter than they probably would have liked. After the letter from Natsu, she needed all the comfort she could get.

She took the container of cookies from Wendy's hands but Juvia held onto the yellow box. Placing a cup of tea at both their sides, she sat down and gripped her own, a heavy smile on her face.

But Juvia caught her in the act long before she started playing. "He wrote you a letter, didn't he?" And before Lucy could respond to her abrupt question, Juvia was pulling out an envelope and laying it flat on the table. "Juvia received a letter, too, from her beloved," she offered, sotto voce.

Lucy tightened her hold around the pristine white mug and didn't say a word. Wendy reached over the table, putting a gentle hand over Lucy's. "It's okay, Lucy-san."

Wallowing in her own self-pity was something she did not want to do in the company of the only friends who had remained behind during the war. She bribed a smile on her façade and loosened the grip around her cup. "What's inside the box?"

Wendy gave her one last questioning look before drawing away. The blue haired girl pushed the box towards Lucy, swerving to avoid the letter that still lay on the worn table. "For you," she said.

"Well, not exactly for you." Wendy added with a gentle grin. Her eyes drifted to Lucy's stomach and she nodded smiling. "Thank you. But it's too early to know-"

Juvia waved a hand. "It's alright. Juvia and Wendy made sure it could fit either boy or girl."

Wendy nodded eagerly, "But if I can ask, Lucy-san. Would you rather a boy or girl?"

Lucy hadn't really put much thought into it, actually. It was too soon for anything, he or she was just barely the size of an apple at least. Her bump hadn't even become a bump and when she had gone to the doctors for her check up, her weight hadn't risen but instead dropped one kilogram. "In all honesty I don't know," she finally answered. "I think it'd be nice to stay being the only girl in the house and I'm sure Natsu wants a boy to run around the dirt and make more of a mess around the home but..." she let her voice drift off as she pondered more on it, the corners of her lips lifting. "But the more I think about it, it wouldn't be so bad to have a little girl."

Wendy nodded in agreement but Juvia shook her head. "Boy," she said. "So he could look like Gray-sama."

"Juvia, don't you think you should drop the -sama now that you're both engaged?" Lucy asked.

The girl twiddled with her fingers, "yes but Juvia can't get out of the habit."

"Open the box," Wendy pushed, tapping the sides of the yellow container with eager fingers.

"We hope you like it."

Lucy took her time opening it. She gently removed the ribbon, making sure to keep it intact. She might have even sent it to Natsu but then thought about how ridiculous that would be. Her hands eased under the lid and lifted. Beneath the blue and red tissue paper, there was a little onesie of a bear, plain colored onesies for newborns, some bibs, and two bottles decorated with a mother duck and her little hatchlings following her.

She put her fingers to her lips and tried to suppress the smile, "You guys-"

"Nope, don't say it. Unless you're going to say how wonderful this gift is, we don't want to hear it."

Lucy giggled and put the lid back, moving to the two girls and hugging them over their shoulders. "Thank you," she said quietly. "Really, thank you so much. For everything."

Juvia squeezed her hand, understanding what she meant, and Wendy rested her cheek over her hand. "You don't have to thank us for something like that, Lucy-san." She whispered against it. "We'll always be here for you, even when we're not around."

Lucy had managed not to cry since the day she was last with Natsu. She learned how to quell her tears in more ways than one. She didn't only do it for herself, but for the baby and Natsu. What good would it bring if she were crying back home, especially for the little person in its early stages of development. She would be not only staining Natsu's will to fight but the motives of every men and women risking their lives.

But right then, as Wendy's unblemished cheek brushed against her hand and Juvia sent her empathy through her touch. She just couldn't hold it anymore and the tears were spilling before she could put a barricade up and blocked them.

Juvia and Wendy were at her side the moment they felt her hand trembling. Then they were holding her, pressing her head against their shoulders and comforting her, whispering soothing words to ease her breathing. But it was just not working. The tears just kept falling and not even in a graceful way, she was sobbing and all the while she was apologizing because of her face and how ridiculous it must look. Juvia cried with her and all Lucy wanted to do was stop Juvia's pain right there.

She had been so engulfed in her own hurt that she forgot Juvia had received a letter as well, what must have she been feeling? And Wendy, when had she gotten so mature? Realizing those changes only made her shiver more and press her wet eyes against whatever shoulder she was leaning on. It wasn't Natsu's and a clenching feeling in her gut told her it would never be Natsu's again.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

It is December 24th, 9:46 a.m.

It is Christmas Eve morning and the weather has gifted the ground with snow. Not the white you'd imagine or see in pictures and read about in books. The snow fell so white it hurt your eyes or made you turn away because the radiance stung more than looking into the sun. It fell inelegantly, catching on to whatever claimed hold to it first. It kissed the ground in clumps rather than in single and unique snowflakes. And it wasn't white. Not close to the unbleached, untempered white she had always read about. It was a white that had been shaded with a fine pencil of navy blue. She let herself believe that it was because the sun was still hiding behind the gray clouds and was shying away from the opportunity to whiten the snow on the ground.

But underlying that belief, she knew it wasn't true. Nothing in the world is as pristine and perfect as you imagine it.

It is the morning before Christmas and for the first time in her twenty-four years of life, she is alone.

Lucy carefully lifts herself from the bed, slipping her feet into her slippers and makes her way to the kitchen. It is just the beginning of her third and final trimester, her bump is finally beginning to protrude just a bit.

She sent her letter to Natsu in hopes that it'd reach him before Christmas. The only thing she could want right then more than having him with her was him receiving her letter.

The smell of burning herbs sends a soothing shiver down her spine and she smiles at the aroma that begins to fill the house. As she begins making the routine breakfast of her morning, there's a knock at the door.

Her eyes read the clocks on the hand, 10:10 a.m.

She wipes her hand clean from the cookie dough she was manually stirring and moves for the door. It's no day for mail, not with all the snow and the holiday. She had invited her friends over for dinner but it was twelve hours too early for any of that.

When Lucy's hand turned the handle of the door she least expected two things: a box of delicate chocolates found only in Waas Forest and Natsu holding those chocolates, a smile spreading across his face.

She was jumping atop of him before she could give him a chance to prepare himself. But Natsu had known long before he had arrived that she would leap into his arms. His foot stepped back and he kept her up steady, the arm holding the chocolates wrapped around protectively over her slender waist and his free hand at the back of her head, pushing her closer to him. They stayed like that until Lucy pulled away, her eyes red and wet. "Okay, I'm cold." He chuckled and kissed the top of her forehead before leading her into their house and closing the door behind them.

Leaving the cold wind and sun kissed porcelain white snow outside.

They talked about little things: the weather, food, Juvia and Wendy, their friends that had joined the war, their house, the baby, but never once of when he would be leaving and when he would return.

Lucy was reaching in the cabinet for a box of cookies when Natsu rose behind her and took her into his arms. His hands found themselves on her stomach. He kissed her shoulder and then the edge of her collar bone, the neck, her chin, he traced the outline of her jaw. His lips stained her cheek, then her forehead, nose, until finally it reached the tip of her lips. And she knew he would hover there, just as he always had. So she waited until he stopped looking at her, taking her in as she was then rather than how she had been.

And then he kissed her. And it was different. The train station had been left behind them, their rare receiving of letters from each other had been pushed aside, the war, the snow, everything. It was dragged to a corner where they would never pop their heads in. Right then it was just them and the steady rise of their chests as their lips parted against each other.

He had gotten stronger, that much was obvious. The way he held her was different and Lucy didn't know if it was because of his training or because he wanted to be there, in that moment, forever. Natsu's fingers reached for the back of Lucy's head and pulled the pink ribbon she had tied up. Her hair came falling down past her shoulders in soft waves and Natsu played with the ends as the grace of his finger tips grazed her bare neck, a sting filled with ecstasy slipped down her spine.

Natsu kept a hand at the arch of her back and Lucy coiled her arms around his neck, pushing his face closer to his. The kiss was so much more different than any other. Every intimate contact she shared with him was different and that was one of the reasons she had grown to love him. Their relationship was far from monotone and while many would think the distance and the separation of war would dwindle their feelings for each other, she could disagree that just the opposite was happening. She wanted him more than she could say or even show. So she tried to relay those feelings through her kiss and she hoped he could grasp them.

He was the first to pull away, the cool air of the room hitting her like a sharp knife. He looked down at her with the same intense eyes he always looked at her with. Like she was a fine piece of art he kept trying to figure out but never could. Lucy pushed a strand of untamed hair from his forehead and smiled. "I missed you," she said, filling up the air between them with her voice.

He nodded, putting a hand at her stomach he knelt down and kissed just below her belly-button. "I miss you both," he said against her clothes. "Can he hear yet?"

Lucy arched her eyebrows forward, "You don't even know if it's a boy yet!"

He rose, six foot and all, over her. He bent down just enough to kiss her lips again. "Yeah but I want a boy."

"And if she's a girl?"

He thought about it a moment before drawing her into his arms again. "Then we'll just have to try again," he whispered beside her ear.

She pinched his shoulder, laughter spilling from her lips, and he let go.

"If she's a girl," he said, the wake of his smile still stroked onto his lips. "Well then I hope she's as strong as her mother. And if he's a boy," his grip on her waist tightened just a bit, "he needs to learn that when it's my time with mommy, it's _my_ time."

Lucy gasped and pushed him gently, he fell back raising his hands in defense. "You of all people should know I'm not well with competitions for attention."

They had breakfast and then lunch, together. The door moaned as the wind pushed against it and the windows creaked as the storm grew angrier. But everything was fine inside the small house that protected Natsu and Lucy. While the storm raged on in reality, they were well suited inside the dwelling of their small fantasy.

They joked about old times, though they weren't exactly old but they felt that way at least. They laughed about the time when Natsu had tried proposing, choking on his words and forgetting what he was going to say. How Lucy didn't take him seriously and it took a week before she even said yes. They poked fun at each other, remembering their first time. Their _real _first time. How neither knew what to do or how to move. Natsu traced the curve of Lucy's upper lip and the bend of her bottom lip, he reminded her of their first kiss.

Under the wooden ceiling, in the sight of a dim kitchen light, neither of them felt like time had passed between them. The distance had been closed in a matter of minutes and completely obliterated in just a few hours.

Then night came and if it hadn't been for the clock on the wall, they wouldn't have known. The craving for sleep was far from their eyes but they curled up on their bed together, the conversation continuing on until one of them fell asleep.

"You should sleep," Natsu whispered into the silence of their dark room. "It's past midnight."

"You're the one who needs it more than me," she whispered back, Natsu turned to his side so he could look at her. "And I don't want to sleep."

His fingers pushed aside the strand of gold hair from her cheek, "Why not?"

"Because if I wake up and you're gone again it might kill more this time."

The fingers against her cheek stiffened and he pulled away slowly, "I'm sorry."

She gave him a sad smile, "Don't worry. We'll get through this."

"We're getting old."

"Old?!" she said loud enough her voice echoed. She lowered it back down to a whisper as if someone else were sleeping in their house, "We're not even half of fifty yet."

"I mean mentally."

Lucy considered it for a moment and then said, "You have at least."

"I don't know whether that's an insult or a compliment," he smiled.

"Both. You're still as hot-headed and impulse ready as you were a few years back. But you think about things more, the way you talk is different. At least with me."

"Gray... Not so much."

She giggled and he laughed beside her. "Yeah," she yawned and rested her cheek against his hand. "Say it happens and you're not home yet, what do I name it?"

"You say it like we're getting a pet and not a baby, Lucy," he teased.

Lucy only smirked and pushed for his answer. "Hm," he thought about it. "Haru."

"Haru?" she repeated.

He nodded, "Yeah. Spring, it comes before summer."

"Before Natsu," Lucy said catching on.

"Because no matter what happens, they'll come before me... and you."

"And it works out for either boy or girl, I like it."

"I know you do."

She stretched her neck far enough to graze his lips. "Always," she said against them.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>I don't know it hurt writing this chapter because like pain? Thank you for bearing with my story so far and for your reviews! :) I'll try to update more frequently (Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays!) Also please lead feedback! Unless you're going to be like... really rude then . but constructive criticism is always taken in the right way! No pressure ._.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

It is December 25th, 10:55 a.m.

It's Christmas morning, a Thursday. She stretches her legs and then her arms, touching the empty right side of her bed. Her head turns slowly to where Natsu had been lying just hours before. He was gone. Nothing left behind, not even a note detailing a goodbye. Just the scuffled sheets and hanging comforter to reveal that he had been there at some point.

Had there been a call? Had he waken her and said his farewells before his departure because he was in a rush? Did she not remember because she collapsed from exhaustion?

She let her head fall against the pillow again. No, that wasn't it.

Regardless, it was Christmas and as much as she wanted to spend it with Natsu and everyone else who had gone to fight, she would not be upset. Pushing hair off her forehead, she lifted herself from the bed and made her way to the bathroom.

A warm bath was something her body craved more than the strange foods she'd been desiring, but she'd save that for later in the afternoon. Instead, she rinsed her face and droned through the routine she fixed for herself after Natsu's wake.

Outside the snow still clung to the ground, the roof of the trees, anywhere it was welcomed. It stumbled and fell where it could and didn't ask for questions, she envied it a bit. The sun was out, finally, drenching the white floor with splotches of light. She closed the curtain of her room and made for her dresser. Pulling out a light blue winter dress, she lay it over her body to see how it would fit, satisfied with the girl in the mirror, she moved on to put it on. It was a moderately casual dress with a simple beige collar rounded around the base of the neck. The cotton did well to stretch over her imperceptible pregnant stomach and kept her skin at the right temperature, regardless of the chill outside. While it did well to keep her warm, it also did its job to hide the small bump barely beginning to form. If there was one thing Lucy wanted it was clothes that would accentuate her pregnant stomach rather than veil it. Nonetheless, the sheer blue complimented the gold in her hair and exploded the shades of tan in her eyes.

Grabbing her crimson cloak and bag from the hat stand by the door, she left their small home and braced the white world around her.

It wasn't like she hadn't roamed the streets of the merchant town, Magnolia, since the incident happened. It wasn't like she didn't have to force other thoughts in her head as she passed the buildings that had once had bodies littered in front of them like mundane trash. It was definitely not like she tried to avoid the eyes of those who lost more than she had that day. And it was definitely _not _like she was about to have an anxiety attack walking down the stone pavement she'd once seen so much bloodshed.

Magnolia was known for it's fine luxuries in the market at attainable prices. The crowded shops and restaurants burst with chatter and life. Even on a holiday like then, the streets were and filled with so much spirit it made Lucy wonder whether or not what happened the months before actually occurred. Nothing was closed as her feet chimed against the stone pavement of the streets and crossed through alleys. Only occasionally would she roam past a shop that claimed it was closed for the holiday, but other than the few dark lit stores she skimmed through, Magnolia was bustling with enough excitement than she'd seen in the past weeks.

There were spirit shops with their doors opened, wafting out into the cold breeze the ever-lasting smell of cheap ale, expensive spirits and in some occasions, rare herbs that promised fulfillment in life most desperate travelers would believe. Perfume stands with alluring scents that drew their inanimate hands around your wrist and tugged you to buy, to acknowledge them. Boutiques for men, women, children, and even animals of all kinds with rich velvet, linen, cloth. Sheep skin, Silk-wormed thread, yards and yards of fine silk. Cotton, leather, wool, and furs. Such refined fabrics and some were shipped from as far as the Isle of Layda that resided at the east side of the ocean, miles and miles away from where Lucy was standing.

She strolled into a bakery, the warm air tousled with the scent of cinnamon and frosted sugar. Her nose took it greedily and begged for more in the form of food. She moved towards the stand, taking a plastic scissor from a white tin and filling her basket with all the delicacies her stomach craved. Cinnamon rolls drenched in white powder, macaroons of all the colors of the rainbow, sweets from all around Fiore. Breads in crescent, round, square, diamond, heart, and clover shapes. She wanted it all so she gave it to herself. Lucy wasn't even looking at the names anymore or paying attention to the country of origin, her hands were just taking and taking and filling the wooden basket with more than it could hold.

Lucy was turning around when the man with sapphire eyes put a hand on her slender shoulder, keeping her from bumping into him head first into his chest. "Woah there," he said. He grinned down at her, his eyes smoldering hers. "Careful, Ms..."

"Lucy," she said staring up at him, not able to shake his eyes off her she decided to turn away first. "Just Lucy."

"Well, Just Lucy," the smile never left his face and it was spreading to his voice. Lucy knew his type and started walking towards the cashier, the young man on her toe. "Let me carry your bags."

"I'm fine," she said as kindly as she could. It wasn't like this was the first time. No, this was something that happened with up-most frequency. Lucy knew she was beautiful, maybe this realization was too obvious to her but she took it with pride. With Tartarus having taken over Magnolia, it gave her enough reason to stay caged up inside her house, swarming men around her like summer flies was just an added extra.

"No, I insist." He was persistent she'd give him that. The blue-eyed man leaned against the marble counter as she handed the teller fifteen jewels. His eyes skimmed over her coat, undressing her and taking her in like an item. It took everything inside of Lucy to not gauge his eyes out with her manicured hands. As the cashier handed Lucy her white paper bag filled to the brink with pastries, the man took them before she could stop him. With a half-smile that drove her mad- and not in the way you'd imagine- he said, "lead the way, Just Lucy."

She knew self-defense and more than her slim and petite figure would lead on. She could twist his neck and manage to not break it, strike points and avoid internal organs but still leave her opponent withering as if she had. She could scrape the pits of his eyes out and manage to keep the blood from cresting her fingernails. Lucy knew lethal moves that could render her victim paralyzed and pleading for death.

She was hurt easily, maybe her defenses weren't the strongest, she'd give anyone that. But her attacks redeemed that small fracture in her shield. If there was one thing she hated being, was a damsel in distress.

Erza had taught her enough to keep herself safe when Natsu- or anyone- wasn't around. If this man tried to lay just as much as a piece of loose hair on her, she'd flip him over and slam his pretty little face into the stone pavement their feet were tread on.

These were the thoughts circling her mind as the man beside her strolled nonchalantly with her bag over his shoulder. She pinched the cuff of her red cloak, _breathe_, she told herself. _You're almost home._

"You're awfully quiet, Just Lucy," he said. She gave him a look and he raised his hands up in surrender. "Right, sorry."

"Are you planning to follow me home?"

"Ashton."

"Excuse me?"

"Ashton," he said. "That's my name."

She didn't actually care. Lucy stopped at the foot of the dirt path that swindled up the hill and to her house. "You can stop here," she stretched her hand out. "My bag, please."

Ashton seemed to consider something for a moment before handing over the paper bag, and then pulled back when she reached for it. "Wait, you don't happen to live alone, right?" The question took her back and she softened the features in her face into neutrality.

"Of course not."

He could see right through her. Her nails dug into the skin of her palm, she could make him stop looking at her like that. "Oh? Then who's the lucky person to share the same home as you?"

"My-"

"Lucy?"

Natsu was making his way up the path of their house, his eyes staring straight on Ashton.

With the intent to kill. 

* * *

><p>Outside the fallen snow would have been soothing for a nice Christmas to stay at home and curl up with some home-made food and your loved one after exchanging gifts. The gusting wind hinting a preparing storm by kissing the glass windows would have created a unothrodox eery symphony for those caged inside. The essences being burned, filling the small confining of the stone cottage house, would blend away any worry or discomfort that inhabited the mind.<p>

But the three people, one of which was rigid against the wooden chair his body was momentarily claiming, were far from the serene atmosphere around them. Lucy rose from the table, her chair whining against the wood, and made her way to the kettle. As her slender hands slipped a porcelain cup of yellow tea to the sapphire eyed man, Natsu couldn't hide the scowl emerging from his face.

In fact he was doing just the opposite. He would have it known that Ashton's presence was far from welcomed inside their house let alone being served by Lucy- his wife.

And what was he thinking walking her home? The boiling anger was enough to make him use his training for other means. Lucy shot him a look and he looked down at his clenched hands. Would it not have been for the young blonde, he would have acted on his own bearings.

But if there was one thing Lucy and no other person could control, it was Natsu's tongue. "So who the hell are you?"

The light-haired man flinched back at his booming voice. He considered being honest, laying it down who he truly was and where he hailed from, his occupation. Anything that would tone down- if just a little- the rising tension between him and the pink haired fellow across his half-empty cup of tea. Then considering everything he was and everything he did, it'd probably just extend his circumstances. He glanced over at Lucy who had shifted her seat and was now sitting beside him, was she there to protect him? He nearly scoffed at the idea.

"Isn't it obvious?" He inched closer to Lucy. "I'm Just Lucy's new cherished friend." His defined arm stretched behind the arm rest of Lucy's chair, she didn't move her gaze from Natsu's. "It's simply Lucy," before Ashton could go on with his banter, she shot him a look and he slipped his arm away from her. Natsu glowed at his wife but it was quickly stomped when Lucy rolled her eyes at him.

"Does he have to stay with us?"

The wind whistled outside.

"We can't just send him out in the storm, Natsu."

"And why the hell not?"

Ashton choked on his tea and set it down. Lucy ignored him. "Just bear with it for a few more hours."

"It's Christmas."

"Natsu, you're being a child."

"I don't mean to be of annoyance but if my presence is really much of a burden, it's no trouble for me to-"

"No," Lucy said, she smiled. For the first time since she came in contact with the stranger, the corners of her pink lips lifted. "You'll stay until the wind dies down."

Natsu growled and Lucy flicked her napkin at him, "And you'll behave until then as well."

For an instance Ashton looked towards the closed window, considering whether he should risk his life retreating home or risk his life sitting across someone like Natsu. When Lucy cleared her throat, the answer was clear. He'd stay.

But it was not long until the wind quivered to a whisper and the snow began to drip down in soft wisps of white. Almost too eagerly, Natsu was at the door and leading Ashton out with the widest smile in Magnolia. Lucy held herself from laughing at his face, regardless of how protective he was being, the look on his face was something too hard to resist the urge to smile.

When the young man was out the door and all that was left were two beating hearts and a growing one, Natsu took Lucy in his arms and drew her closer to him. He ran his nose through her hair and then kissed the skin below her ear, "Finally."

His breath sent ice down her body and she pushed him away, hiding the red in her face as she made her way to the bedroom. "If I hadn't known better I would have thought you actually liked him," she teased as she pulled her hair up and tied it with a red thread.

Natsu moved over to the mirror where she stood and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Yeah okay." With a swift flick of muscle, Lucy twirled under his hand and looked up at him. "If it weren't for you I would have unlocked some fire powers and bashed his head into the wall."

She giggled and his lips curved into a half-smile. "I'm serious."

Lucy span out of his hold and sat on the edge of their bed. Her fingers traced the silk covers, catching every small detail with her fingernail and then redrawing it with the invisible ink of her skin. "Natsu," her voice was low, even for the silence in the house. "Where'd you go this morning?"

The fear in her voice was deeper than he'd like to hear. He considered his answer and then remembered something from earlier, jumping up and then sprinting out of the room. When he came back, he had something like a ball wrapped in his shirt. "I was getting you something," regardless of how she was feeling right then, his smile was too contagious.

Gently he unfolded the green fabric, beneath it was a blue cat. A kitten, barely the size of half his forearm. It's eyes were shut when Natsu peeled away the remaining layer of clothing and it nuzzled his head into Natsu's stomach, hiding away from the light.

"Oh my-"

"I think it's a boy," he cut her off. "I didn't get to look at him because well... I forgot." He lifted the little cat up and turned him towards her. "See anything?"

Lucy pushed the animal away, "Natsu!"

He only grinned and stroked his head, "I wanted to get you something special."

Her eyes bounced across the frail body, its velvet pink nose, the sprout of black whiskers, its blue coat. Her features shrunk into worry, "Is he sick?

Natsu shook his head and continued to stroke the blue cat's head, it moved closer into Natsu's arms. "Nah, I think it's just some rare thing. The old lady I bought him from must've thought the same thing, got him pretty cheap." His finger moved beneath its head and scratched at the fur that lined his jaw, its eyes blinked a little and it began to purr. "Poor guy."

Lucy didn't know how to feel. Whether she was worried and parental, what about the baby? If its allergic, can't be around animals, or if the cat grows up to be jealous and hurts him? Or if she's elated, glad that Natsu rescued this baby animal from- by the looks at its curved stomach- a neglecting owner. But by the way the little thing kept encouraging Natsu to stroke his head, and the sparkle in her husband's eyes as she gazed down on the small creature, she knew that this addition to the family would only bring happiness.

"What are we going to name him?" She asked as she reached to stroke his back. "Don't make it ridiculous either."

"Mmmm," Natsu tilted his head. "How about... Happy?"

"Happy?"

He nodded "Yeah. You know like the emotion."

She pushed him but not enough to make him lose his balance. "Happy... I like it. Okay, Happy." Her head leaned down towards the small head before she could think of what she's doing, she planted a gentle kiss on top of the blue coat. "Welcome home, Happy."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Of course this isn't the end of their Christmas, and if you're worried about an unnecessary love triangle... Don't! I've never really been one to like those and Natsu and Lucy are going through enough things as it already is . New chapter tomorrow!


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The table has been converted into a bountiful banquet of white linen. It's seam has been cut into red with golden laced frills. On it sits plates varying from roasted chicken soaked in buttermilk to teeth crunching potato chips sliced into thin sheets of yellow. A bottle of sweet red wine rests in a tub of ice, next to a gold mix of champagne. Rich chunks of meat wallow and bob in a thick brown stew, gleaming sauce waving with white sheets of cream. Lucy sets the last plates of dessert on the table before wiping her hands on her apron, only stepping back to evaluate her work.

Everything is in place.

She had never considered herself a cook, only learning after seeing how bright Natsu's face would glow when she made her first home-cooked meal. But now it was coming to her like second nature. The long afternoons, and sometimes even nights, scorching over a stove and oven, sweat dribbling down the nape of her neck and forehead, truly were worth every effort. All the practice and all the burnt plates and smoking kitchen would have all led to the delicately cooked dinner she prepared for everyone that evening.

The cockiness of her teenage years was scratching at her door and she let her pride burst through.

A knock on the framed arch between the living room and kitchen made her jump back.

Natsu's black collar was unbutton, a red tie hanged loose around his long neck. He was leaning against the wooden frame, a disheveled smile on the right side of his face. "Is it a fetish if I say I like you in an apron?" He moved towards the table and picked at the chicken, throwing a piece of the white meat into his mouth. Lucy slapped his hand, "Not yet."

"I'm starving!" He picks up one of the cookies Lucy decorated, "You sure this is enough?"

She glances over at the table again, her eyes skimming at all the different types of food she worked hard on. "Of course it is."

Natsu scoffed, "Lucy, I could eat that in one seating."

"But you won't."

"Says who?" he countered. Lucy crossed her arms over her chest, "I just did, are you deaf?"

"I'm not Death."

She sighed. "You're a classic, Natsu."

"And you're beautiful."

Lucy couldn't help the smile crawling on her lips. The young man glanced at the clock, "You should start getting ready-"

"Oh my god..." Lucy said before pushing past Natsu and running into the bathroom.

While she got ready, Natsu picked at the blind side of the chicken and snagged another cookie.

* * *

><p>Lucy was still in the shower when the first knocks of the evening rang through the silent cottage. Lazily, Natsu lifted himself from the couch with Happy in his arms and opened the door, letting in the cold, Gray and Juvia all at once. In a matter of seconds, their house went from silence with the occasional hum coming from the bathroom, to bolstering laughter and calls.<p>

Gray walked in as if it were his own house, his hands shoved deep into his pocket and Juvia's arm looped through his, clipping him at the elbow. "Come right in..." Natsu muttered under his breath.

"Oi, is that any way to treat your guests?"

Natsu set Happy down, the kitten stretched its back and then stumbled to the pillow Lucy laid out for him. "I'll treat you any way I want," he shot back as he rose.

Gray flinched his head back to Natsu, "What did you just say, petal head?"

Natsu smirked and stepped closer to the black haired man, "Couldn't hear me through your stupidity, Gray?"

A vein probed in his forehead, Gray pulled away from Juvia. "More like your idiotness is running through my ears."

Natsu just laughed and grabbed Gray by the shoulders, drawing him in a hug and clapping his back before pushing him away. "Been too long."

"Seriously," Gray clapped Natsu's hand before stepping back to Juvia. "How have you been?"

Natsu shrugged, "Living."

Gray nodded in understanding and then kissed the side of Juvia's head, if there was anything both young men knew, it was that they weren't just living for themselves out there. "Alright, well we didn't come here to talk morbid. Where's Lucy?"

Natsu nodded towards the hallway and led the way through the kitchen, "Bathroom. You guys can sit down here, I'll go hurry her up."

Gray lifted a sugar cookie frosted with a blue snowflake as Natsu left them alone. His legs were long, so walking to the bathroom took less time than it would Juvia or Lucy. The blonde women was still in the bathroom, the water running and the steam seeping through the small cracks of the door and out into the dimly lit hallway. Natsu knocked hard, "Yo, Luce." When there was no answer he banged at the wood again, this time Lucy answered.

"What?" She shouted.

"Are you constipated or-"

"Shut up!"

"Well then hurry up, Juvia and Gray are here."

The water was shut off as soon as he finished his sentence. Then Lucy was stumbling out of the shower and opening the door, peeking her head out to look at Natsu. Her hair was clumped onto her head in a mush of dark brown, water droplets still stuck onto her face and eyelashes. Her voice was filled with breath, as if the rush to the door took all of her. "They're here?" she managed, "like inside the house?"

"No, outside in the cold."

"But what time is it?"

"I don't know, Lucy. Just hurry up, I don't know how long I can go without shoving Gray into the oven."

She bit her lower lip in concentration, it took all of Natsu not to kiss her. He looked away. "Okay," she said and then let her eyes trail to Natsu's face. "Move, I'm coming out." He stepped aside and followed her into the bedroom, only stopping at the door when Lucy gave him a stern look. "No," she whispered to him, a small blush at the apples of her cheeks. "You go entertain them."

"Or I could entertain-"

"Natsu," she groaned and pushed him out. "Go," she was trying not to smile, but he could tell that there was no chance she was being serious. Nonetheless, he let her hands push him out the door and only made his way to the kitchen when the door slammed shut behind him.

* * *

><p>The stereotype goes by the way that girls take too long to get ready, and Lucy was proving that to the point. It had been an hour, maybe a little less even but it definitely dragged as sixty minutes. By then, Erza and Wendy had arrived and still Lucy hadn't even peeked out their room. It wasn't that Natsu was worried, but as he sat in the middle of couch, slouched deep in its maroon cushions with his arms tight over his chest, he wanted nothing more but for Lucy to worry.<p>

They were all scattered around him, Erza leaning on the sofa's armrest, Gray and Juvia at either side of him, and Wendy sitting on wooden chair just across them. They were talking about faeries, Wendy was almost positive she saw one on her way over.

"It must be nice living near the forest, Natsu-san," she said.

Natsu blinked and nodded his head, "Yeah it definitely has it perks. We get all sorts of animals in our backyard but I've never seen a fairy."

"You'd probably just step on it," Gray yawned, he stretched his arm behind Juvia's shoulders. "I wouldn't be surprised if you swatted at it thinking it was a fly."

"I don't swat at you."

"What're you trying to get at?"

Natsu shrugged and made to rise, "Nothing." He looked over at the hallway, "I'm gonna go check on Lucy."

The walk to the room wasn't long, if anything it's as short as crossing from the living room to the kitchen. But Natsu couldn't help but feel that the wooden floorboards beneath him were stretching right out in front of him. His chest was feeling heavy, just as it did during training or when he'd been sent on mission. The feeling of dread and anxiety, of not knowing what will happen next. Who will die next.

He picked up his pace, pausing in front of the door.

It was Christmas. Nothing- at least nothing should- could go wrong on Christmas except maybe the old red suited man getting stuck in the chimney on his way down to deliver presents. But other than that small altercation, everything should be fine. Everything _was _fine.

Behind the door, no trace of activity came to his ears and as Natsu's fingers curled over the gold metal and turned, the knot in his stomach only grew heavier. "Lucy-"

Lucy was lying against the bed.

Her face was shoved into its hanging comforters, her blonde hair a curtain shielding her face from him, from the light of their room. One hand was gripping the sheets of her blanket, another wrapped around her pelvis, gripping the fabric of her dress. He was at her side the second the door was thrown open, calling for Wendy in a strangled voice.

He lifted her as gently as he could and lay her on the bed, wiping her sweat mingled hair off her face, "Lucy," he whispered. Her eyes were closed but her breathing was ragged, whether Lucy's body was pulsing while he held her, or it was his own heart he couldn't tell the difference.

Wendy dashed toward them, her finger working at her hair and pulling any strand that came loose away from her face. "Water," the blue-haired girl took Lucy's wrist, measuring her pulse with a slender finger. "And towels." Natsu was still at the edge of the bed staring from Lucy to Wendy, watching her as she moved her effortlessly and with so much... calm.

"Natsu-san," she said, bringing him back. "Herbs. I brought a medical-kit in the carriage we came in, bring those." Natsu nodded and ran for the door.

Wendy unbuttoned Lucy's dress, the sweat drenching the hem of the red print. "It's going to be okay."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Passing out, fainting, call it what you will, it had a strange feeling. Those who never experienced it, let alone could imagine the sensation that came with it, would never understand. And even so, for every person it was different. Because we were not sculpted from the same stone, same wood, same ice.

But for Lucy the sensation was one she'd forget just as soon as she lived it.

Like a dream, you wake up knowing the gist of it: whether it was good or bad, whether it made your heart pulse and sweat drip or made you smile and wake in a daze.

She vaguely remembered walking into the room after pushing Natsu out the door. Walking to the dresser, choosing a simple red dress with a pine collar and cuffs, sliding it on but barely getting it over her shoulders before slipping. Falling, the ground rushing up to her, her rushing to the ground. Her fingers slipped and grabbed at something: the table, the bed, dragging the comforter down with her. And the pain, the excruciating screams below her stomach demanding to be acknowledged.

The knives cutting tendon after tendon as she crawled over herself. They stabbed deeper, piercing her lower body with a vengeance she couldn't compensate. And no matter how hard she pushed against it, tried to subdue it with her own force, it was still there. Blaring in her face like an alarm clock on a Monday morning.

And a single name, two syllables, five letters, escaped her lips.

"Natsu."

Before she let the darkness win out.

* * *

><p>Lucy acknowledged everything in a list: wet, sting, warmth, light. Her forehead gave off the sensation that something moist had fallen on her, or maybe something wet was actually on her. Then there was the haze of a sting at the bare skin of her wrist, elbow, and neck. Something hot and comforting at her side, the right side. Her eyes followed after that, blinking open expecting what they already knew she would find.<p>

Natsu.

Natsu sitting beside her with the light of the room falling behind him like a backdrop, giving the illusion that he wasn't really there. Like he were an angel without wings. Her guardian angel.

She managed a weak smile before he fell over her, gripping her back and pulling him against his chest. "Y-you're squishing me," she breathed against his shirt. "N..Natsu."

He pulled back, always keeping a hand on her shoulder. "Right, sorry."

Lucy's fingers reached for her forehead and pulled back the wet thing she was feeling, a towel. "What happened?" She raised her hand to stop him before he could speak. "Wait, I mean-" She froze and then jolted out of her bed, Natsu at her side. "T-the baby, is he- is she alright?"

Natsu kept his distance from Lucy, worry creasing the edges of his round face. "It's okay, Lucy. Take a deep breath." He motioned her to do the same as he was but she wasn't looking at him, her eyes were far away and glazed.

"Did something... Oh God..." her knees buckled beneath her. She rested her face in her lap, "The-"

Natsu stroked her head, "Luce, listen to me." As carefully as he could, he pulled her up and gripped her by the waist. "You're okay- he's okay. We're all okay. Okay?"

Lucy gave a distant nod. "I'm sorry. I just-"

"Shh," he whispered. "It's okay," he repeated against her hair. "Everything's fine."

* * *

><p>Wendy strode over with a cup of hot water, Lucy looked up at her. "No tea?"<p>

She shook her head, her blue strands of hair swaying with the movement. "It's better this way, it eases the nerves more."

"But there's-"

Wendy put a hand on her shoulder and smiled, "Okay." Lucy blew into the hot water before taking in the bland taste. "Thank you."

Erza's arm were crossed over her chest and she was leaning against the frame of the kitchen door. "You sure gave us a fright back there, Lucy."

Gray nodded, "Natsu ran like hell out the door, I thought someone got in or something." He scratched the back of his neck, "I chased him thinking Tartarus-"

He stopped when Natsu gave him a look, he bit on his tongue. "I'm just glad you're okay, Lucy," Gray said. "We all are."

"I'm just sorry our Christmas ended up being this way."

Juvia shook her head, "The nights still young!" She ran into the living room, turning on the wooden radio. A stream of cool notes came through the speakers and drifted on the still air over to where everyone was huddled. Juvia took Gray and then Erza by the hand, leading them to the open room and inducing a dance. "Come on," she laughed. "Lets not let a little scare get to us. It's Christmas!"

Wendy's eyes trailed back to Lucy's, a reassuring smile sketched on her lips. "It was just prodromal labor, you're fine. The pain was probably too much strain on your body, piled with the stress you've been on, and all the slaving over the kitchen today. Your body and mind gave into fatigue, that's why you collapsed."

Lucy nodded and raised the last remnant of the hot water to her lips, "Isn't it too early?"

Natsu clapped the back of Lucy's back hard enough it made her cough up her water, he smiled in apology. "Come on, Luce. Listen to Wendy she knows her stuff."

"I know I'm just worried..."

"Well don't, it's Christmas like Juvia said. We should be out there dancing with them, not sitting here moping over something that is fine and normal."

Lucy set her cup down and took Natsu's hand, "You're right." The soldier smiled with half his face and squeezed her grip. "Alright," he said before standing with her. "I owe you a dance tonight."

Natsu caressed her back, and all the while, Lucy couldn't part with his gaze. His eyes, their own shade of green. A greedy color that only he owned and no one else, at least she'd never seen any eyes like his. Pine with bursting gold in the irises and a rupture of black contrasting the light in them, how could anyone break a gaze with those colors?

Her heart bounced into a gallop as he swayed her, the edges of her long dress brushed on their rickety floor. For that moment, it was just them. Everything around them, the music, the people, the politics and the war all dissolved into thin air like dew in the morning sun.

Natsu leaned his head enough that his breath was on her neck, mingling with the loose locks of her sun-kissed hair. "You look beautiful," he whispered. "Every day, but more tonight." He pulled just enough to look her over, his eyes slithering down her body. The way they scampered across her figure was different than when Ashton had done the same. The man had looked at her like an item, a possession that he could grab at any given moment because he thought he was entitled to it.

But Natsu looked at her like treasure, like something finer than silk and rarer than pearls. He held her like a thin tread that threatened to leave with the wind, and he whispered to her like his words were only for her and never for anyone but her, to hear. "I never want to stop looking at you," he said between the gap of their faces.

So she drew him closer and kissed the skin below his ear before letting her words trail down his skin. "So don't."

Was the music still playing? She'd forgotten. The world had shrunk into a microscopic bug, inferior to where they existed right then. But there were her feet, her ears, her eyes, and his hand on her waist.

He spun her and led her across the floor, touring around the rest of them as if they weren't really there. For someone as clumsy and hot-headed as him, they waltzed smoothly. She didn't falter either, never missing a step. Of course this was expected, Lucy was born in noble blood. Her father a prestigious business man, dances were second nature to her.

And that was one thing he always compared himself too. He was never one to aspire to be like others, he thought he was the best because that's the way it was. Why deem yourself any lower? You made your own worth and Natsu made his to be higher than the stars.

But Lucy's rich past was something he always wanted to give back to her. He'd pulled her down the pedestal into a world of commoners. He alone replaced her acres and acres of land, the mansion and expensive dresses, for an amateur cottage near the woods. She never complained about this and if anything, when his eyebrows knitted together and his eyes glazed over with that distant look, Lucy always took his hand and reminded him how happy she was just being with him. She claimed that she didn't care for money and jewels, but still Natsu reached for nothing but to give it all to her.

They switched partners, Lucy twirling to Erza and Natsu switching his wife for the doctor in training, Wendy. But the feeling between them never faded, and they laughed as they continued to spin and waltz to the music, never missing a beat. Erza, skilled to the sole of her feet with combat and swordsmanship, was clumsier than ever. She stepped on Lucy's feet, apologizing and flushing the same color of her hair until Lucy spun back to Natsu, who caught her around the waist and drew her closer to him than before.

"You're back," he grinned. How long had it been since they were apart? _Too long_, Lucy thought and she looped her arms around Natsu's neck.

When the song ended they all separated and sat down for the dinner Lucy had prepared. They caught up on the events for those who were away. Joked about things that happened in the years of their adolescence. Admired the rescued cat as he purred away near the crackling fire. And then, when the time came and the inevitable couldn't be avoided anymore, they spoke about the war.

By then the youngest was already tucked within herself, her head resting on Erza's lap as she stroked her hair. Wendy's breathing was as gentle as the fire in the fireplace. "It hasn't been that long, has it?" she asked, her eyes still on the girl.

Gray took in a breath and let it out through his nose. "Yeah."

"Five months," Lucy whispered.

"Everything was just so sudden," Juvia said. "We weren't in town when it happened."

Natsu looked up from his entwined hands with Lucy to stare at Juvia and then at Gray. "You guys weren't here?"

They shook their heads in unison but Juvia was the one to answer, "We were actually on our way out of town, half-way to Hargeon." Juvia paused, closed her eyes and pursed her lips like she tasted something foul. "When we returned... Everything was gone."

"Well it was our anniversary then," Natsu said coolly. "Great gift the world gave us, wasn't it?"

Now they were all looking at him with sympathetic eyes but he waved at them, "It's not a big deal. Things happen and life carries on," he sighed and then let his eyes trail off onto Wendy. "Sometimes the world thinks things are going too right, that we forget what's important to us. That's why bad things happen. It reminds us with those events what we cherish most." He squeezed Lucy's hand before setting it back on her lap, "It's just that sometimes we have to lose what we cherish most to remember that."

His last words punctured her chest. They were ominous and vague and when Lucy reached for his hand again, he stood up and stretched his arms behind his neck. "Man, I'm beat," he said. "I'm gonna head off to bed now," he told them before setting for the bedroom.

When the door echoed in the house, Gray finally spoke up. "I guess that's our cue to leave."

Lucy jolted up, "W-Wait, you guys don't have to go just yet. It's just a sensitive topic for Natsu. Really, it's no trouble if you guys want to spend-"

Gray put a hand on her shoulder, "It's fine." Juvia smoothed over her dress and gave Lucy a warm smile that didn't quite reach the edges of her pale cheeks, Lucy moved under from Gray's hand. "It is late anyway," without a sign of warning, Juvia wrapped her arms around Lucy's shoulders. "Goodnight, Lucy."

Erza was after her and then a hazy Wendy. Regardless of her sunken eyes and drunken steps, Wendy managed to give Lucy her white smile. "Stay healthy," she put a hand over Lucy's stomach. "For the baby, okay?"

Lucy nodded and pulled her in for a tight embrace, "God you've gotten older. You make me feel so old sometimes." Wendy only giggled and walked out through the door trailing behind Erza and Juvia.

Gray stayed behind, his hands deep in his pockets and a cold look on his face. When he stepped near her, she nearly fell back from the lack of space he left between them. "I'll make sure nothing happens to him," he said, Lucy's eyes widened in surprised but he went on. "Don't worry. I can hate the guy sometimes but he has more to come home to now than just a bed."

He walked out into the freezing night before Lucy could give a word of thanks.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>This Christmas "arc" is longer than I expected it to be . Sorry about it but I promise some major Natsu x Lucy moments!


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

The room was dark, minus the littering light of the moon beaming through their window. Would it not have been because of winter and the snow, the filter of the window would have been opened and the moonlight stabbing through the glass would shower the dark room with all its glory. With no filter, no nothing, stopping it from showing its purity.

On the edge of the walls, the inanimate objects were engulfed in the shadows and watched over the room like dark knights. From the doorway Lucy could see herself in the full-body mirror across the room. Her sun-colored hair was gray against the pale light of the moon, it barely touched the edges of her feet. Her silhouette curved with edges of her body but in the mirror she could barely make out where waist started.

As quietly as her feet could muster, she tip-toed over to the dresser and began to strip out of her dress, trading it for one of Natsu's old t-shirts he no longer cared for. She climbed up to her side of the bed, the left side, and pulled the thick comforter over her shoulders.

Then she exhaled. A teetering and heavy breath.

Something stirred beside her and then the little cat was nuzzling its head against Lucy's spine. "I'm sorry," Natsu said. Her body tensed up but he wasn't talking to her. Taking Happy into his hands he said, "But that's my spot your hogging, little guy." Trying hard not wake the blue kitten, Natsu arranged a small bed for him at the other end of their bed before turning back to Lucy. But she kept her back to him.

"Luce," he said in a low voice, barely above a whisper but not hushed enough to be consider one. "Lucy, are you mad at me?"

This time she shifted in the bed to look at him, though the darkness made it hard to see his features. It wasn't hard to determine where Natsu's face was, she'd looked at him so many times his face was as clear to her as the back of her palm. She knew where his eyes parted, where his eyebrows rose when he was confused or shock. She could follow the bridge of his nose to the fine tip and then trace it down to the path of his lips. Thin over thick. Lucy shook her head.

"Okay," he breathed. "Good."

"Why'd you think I was angry?"

"I mean I stormed out of there without really saying goodnight or even merry Christmas."

"It's okay."

It went silent after that and she started considering that maybe he'd fallen asleep. Lucy didn't shake her eyes from where Natsu lay, and maybe it was a bit weird to stare at someone who was possibly sleeping, but she couldn't make herself move. So she remained that way, imagining Natsu's face in the dark. He coul probably see her, as clear as he would in the morning. Her side of the bed was closer to the window and the white light that gleamed through the window scattered over her and scarcely tipped Natsu's chin.

A hand on her face startled her enough to shrink against her pillow. Natsu only laughed.

"You're being weird."

It wasn't his touch but more the fact that he'd called her out on staring at him that made her ears burn. "Shut up, you," she whispered.

His thumb slid across her cheek, "I'm not the one staring at someone in their sleep."

Lucy hoped the dimness of the room hid the scarlet in her cheeks. "Whatever," he grinned and it carried out in his voice. His fingers slid down to her lips before lifting her chin, he held her there. She still couldn't see his eyes.

"God, you're beautiful."

"I thought you didn't believe in a God."

"Sometimes I really question that when you're so close to me."

She giggled and Natsu squeezed the tip of her chin, "Since when did you become so smooth?" she asked.

The temptation- or better, the urge- to kiss her was becoming unbearable. While the smile was still slipped onto her pink lips, he leaned his mouth against hers. It was clumsy, a lot like their relationship, but the swindle of a firework still managed to skip through their veins. _This, _Natsu thought. _This is all I need._

Time moved slower than, it was like that every time they kissed. His lips were rough and persistent, needy. They pushed against her with a savage hunger, a desire that left Lucy wondering what he could possibly be thinking. But what did you even think about when kissing?

She didn't.

And neither did he.

All he could focus on, all he cared about, was to take Lucy and keep her all to himself. His lips parted over hers, sliding from the top to the bottom. She pulled away as if to say something but then quickly jutted back. He hoped she wouldn't say anything, the sinking feeling in his stomach would only plummet more. He wanted to stay there, to hold her, to keep kissing her the way she deserved to be kissed.

He was still the first to pull away, sliding a hand down to her stomach. Lucy bit her lip in the middle of a smile. Natsu only looked at her, "You know."

Her smile grew.

"You know and haven't told me."

She only laughed. "I was scheduled this morning before I went into town."

Natsu's eyes were glowing, "What are we having?"

"Are you still hungry?"

He groaned and pulled her so her stomach touched his. "Lucy," he said breathlessly. "Tell me."

Her head curled on his shoulder, her nose tickling his ear. "A boy," she whispered and the breath off her voice spiked his skin. "We're having a boy."

Natsu nearly toppled over the bed, springing into the air with his fist up. "I win!"

Lucy propped herself on her elbow and grinned. "This was never a competition."

"Everything's a competition," he said. "Now move over it's cold out here and I'm not even wearing a shirt."

"That's your own fault," she said but when he wrapped his arm around her and rested his chin on her head, she didn't complain. "I'm really glad we're having a boy. I'm kinda more excited now," Natsu whispered after a while.

Lucy giggled and eased her back against him, "So if we had a girl you'd be miserable?"

"Not miserable just more stressed. But now that he's a boy he needs to know when it's my time with mommy," he kissed her head. "It's my time with mommy."

Lucy laughed. They should have a name for a laugh that ends in a sigh, but not all of a sudden. A laugh that swifts into a soft giggle until it evaporates into a melancholy push of air. That was the kind of laugh Lucy just gave. "Yeah."

"You know, I'm not really good with all of this serious stuff. I can never tell when you want or need something, and I'm sorry for that. That's one of the reasons I know I'm so lucky to have you." It was random but Lucy still accepted it.

"I guess what I'm trying to say," he continued. The up-beat of his voice was now gone. "I wish I could be here for you."

She couldn't bring herself to say anything, when it came to times like that she normally resorted to nodding. But maybe Natsu deserved a little more than just a slight shake of her head. He was admitting his fault, a fault that she'd grown accustomed to and never even gave the time of day. Natsu was Natsu, anything else about him was left in oblivion to her. And yet, here he was confessing to her. "It's okay," she whispered.

The answer wasn't what he was looking for, she could tell by the way his hand slid down her back and his muscles slouched. "Yeah," he said. He let out air through his nose, "I know."

Lucy sat up, Natsu's arm falling on the place she'd been on just seconds before. "What? Did I say something wrong now?"

His arms folded behind his head and he closed his eyes, "No. Lets just go to sleep."

For a moment she just sat there, staring down at her clenching hands. Then she was looking out the window, at the translucent flakes of snow peppering their window. And then she was looking back at Natsu. "We've had a lot of people leave us, sometimes for the better," his eyes were still closed, her hands still ringed around their comforter. "But I don't ever want to say goodbye to you... Sometimes even goodnight is hard."

Now he blinked them open. They were softened at the corner and a midst the gradient of black and white they were in, his pupils were dilated. "Luce," he said, his arms reaching for her. "You know you scare the hell out of me sometimes," shaky with a touch of amusement. "But you calm the shit out of me, too." He tugged at her back until she curled into him. "You're this contradiction I think I can't live without."

"Wow," she said. "I think that's the deepest thing you've ever said to me. Even your vows were kinda limp."

"Hey, I worked hard on that thing. Gray helped me."

"That explains so much."

He chuckled and twirled with the ends of her hair, "But really. Sometimes I think I'm falling for you all over again. And when I'm out there, when it's cold and all I have is that giant rock above my head, I really think I find new ways of falling in love with you."

She smirked. "Glad to know you only love me when your life is on the line."

"Can you let me have a moment of 'knight in shining armor'?"

"No, I like that you're the opposite. Don't strain yourself to be something else."

"But I mean it."

"In that case," she twisted in his arms enough to look at him. "I love you."

He thought about it for a moment, sucking on his bottom lip and moving his eyes from Lucy's left to her right. "What?" she asked. "You're not going to say it back?"

He grinned, a small enough one that only detailed itself with the movement of his eyebrows. It was weird, people smiled with their eyebrows, more with their face than they did with their lips. "That's not it. It's just that..."

"That...?"

"I can't think of a better word for that. It's going to sound really messed up but ever since you told me you were pregnant I feel like 'I love you' doesn't cut it anymore. Like you became so much more important to me. That we-together- me, Natsu, and you, Lucy, made something together. Something special and life changing. Like that's really epic." He grinned. "I guess you kinda just became this major solar anatomy thing that I need in order to live, ya know?"

"In a really weird way, I do."

He pressed his lips against hers, floating over them when he pulled away.

His lips curled into a smile that reached his eyes, "And that's why I chose you."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>I reached 1k+ views! So much happiness in the room. Thank you for continuing to follow my story. Please leave any type of feedback! It's always great to hear what you guys think when you read a chapter. (I mean as long as it's not harsh, constructive criticism is one thing and being crude is another)


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

The day of his departure

They waited at noon.

He didn't have to leave until the evening.

The day of his departure

She didn't cry

And he didn't hesitate

To tell her

"You're beautiful."

The day of his departure

She confessed,

"I'm scared," she whispered

Into the very uniform

That took him away.

The day of his departure

He laughed.

"I'll protect you," he teased.

But on the day of his departure

She didn't laugh

Or smile when she asked,

"Who will protect you?"

Yet, he did.

"You will."


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: **Helllooo! I don't like writing Notes in the beginning of the chapter (mostly because it interrupts your reading time- and who even enjoys that?) But I think I should explain this chapter a little:

This chapter is written in Natsu's POV but third person. Normally this story has been through Lucy's POV third person with the occasional glimpse of Natsu's feelings (a very tiny grain of a glimpse at his emotions v.v) But because I feel that it's pretty obvious to understand what Lucy is feeling (because I write it so much) I think it would only be fair and obvious to write about Natsu. Since, so far at least, he's just been so nonchalant about everything going on.

Okay this is really long sorry and now- ONWARD WITH THE STORY MY LOVELY FOLLOWERS/FAVORITERS/NEW PEOPLE WHO HAVE REACHED CHAPTER 11 OR ARE JUST CHECKING OUT CHAPTER 11!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 11<strong>

_February 14, 8:09 p.m._

_Lucy,_

_I won't start this letter with dear because I just realized how insulting that is. You're definitively not a dear and I have no idea why you didn't tell me to stop calling you a dear. _

"Are you really that stupid or is it just an act?" Gray was standing over Natsu's shoulder, rubbing a stained towel on his wet hair.

"What are you- put on some clothes you sick exhibitionist!"

Gray peered down at the blue boxers, "Oi, Juvia gave me these."

"I care?" Gray reached for the letter Natsu had hidden beneath his arm. "Let go," Natsu said in a voice filled with nails. "Now."

Gray backed off, waving his hands in a lazy defense. "Alright, alright. Sheesh," he moved towards hist cot and plopped down. The legs of the dingy gray bed moaned with his spontaneous weight. "You're talking about the wrong dear."

"The what?"

"The letter, dumbass." Natsu rose from his seat half-way, stopping only when Gray continued speaking. "Dear is a salutary, d-e-e-r is the animal. You confused them."

He sat back down, the tip of his ears were grazed with red. Natsu looked down at the crumpled letter and cleared his throat. "Uh- thanks."

Gray waved him off and turned over on the shabby cot, "Don't let your wife think you're any stupider than you already are.

Natsu laughed under his breath and picked up the plastic pen again. S_he really wouldn't care, _he thought.

_Actually... I'm wrong. Apparently to Know-It-All-Gray, a dear is in fact __**not **__a dear... but a deer? How does that even make sense. Let me tell you if I had a deer (got it right this time) for every time this guy annoyed the hell out of me we'd be in a deer infested world. But to be honest, and I swear to everything Lucy if you mention this to anyone I'll infest the bathroom with my odor, I'm glad that I've been transferred to Gray's team. _

_With the front lines there isn't much of a difference compared to the training regimen I was under. I guess it's just a bit more nerve-wrecking when you actually get into it. But I'm not nervous or scared- hell, I have those Tartarus scum running the second they see me. I can handle this. I don't like mentioning sad things in letters, mostly because I think I rather get shot then see you sad. But then that's just a double-ended sword, isn't it? Especially if you're sad because of me. But if I were to die in the field... I'd at least die with a noble cause. If I fear anything it's dying being nothing._

_That isn't the reason I started writing this letter. I started writing because I hope this letter gets to you by Valentines day. Cheesy right? ... I'd kill for cheese fries with fire flakes, Lucy._

His stomach growled at the image of the grease drenched potatoes topped-off with melted nacho cheese and distinctive red flakes of chili powder. When he turned towards the other soldier in the tent, he was sound asleep. Natsu continued writing, turning off the yellow lamp of their tent and trading it for the white glow of the one on their desk.

_Okay- Valentines day. I was thinking, then I was remembering, and then I was imagining and then all of a sudden the idea of everything you are inhabited my mind. I mean, you're always in there don't get me wrong. You've somehow managed to dig your way through every cell and district of my brain and claim it for your own. So serious- there's a flag with your face on every side of my brain. _

_Anyways, back to what I was thinking/remembering/imagining. _

_Do you remember our first kiss?_

_I do. It was awkward, clumsy, sloppy and just an overall mess. _

_(This is where you'd start blushing and I'd laugh at you)_

_You didn't even expect it, and to be one hundred percent with you, I wasn't even planning on doing it. _

The vision of his youth came to him like a swirling mesh of colors. He was transported back to a time before the thought of Haru, loving Lucy, and the war. Everyone was back, no one had left in search of new beginnings or a desperate need to find money. That was the sad thing that came with time: people didn't change, situations did. But all the thoughts of remorse and the dysphoria was vaporized with no single trace around.

The year was x791, a spring day. The typical kind with the "March Madness" weather that kept you on your toes and alert. It was raining even though the forecast of that morning said otherwise. They- everyone at their local pub- were huddled inside the famous bar, Fairy Tail.

It was no grandeur palace, there was no food surpassing the stage of opulence, the ale was as average as it could get (unless you were close with the head of the pub- or were on the bartenders good side). Fairy Tail was as plain and mundane as a dilapidated treasure chest.

But just like a rickety wooden chest, it allured mystery and adventure. And if you were one of the few who managed to get inside and unlock the secrets of that treasure chest, you'd realize that its façade was far from what it put out to be.

That's where everyone met, where all the stories began, where all the "remember that time..." were created. Fairy Tail was a sight for sore eyes from the outside but it was home.

That day, Natsu remembered, was pouring the literal 'cats and dogs'. While his memory served as poor, he'd picture the scene of it all vividly.

They were still in their teens, Lucy seventeen while Natsu barely had turned eighteen. Sitting at one of the bar's oak tables, the blonde girl had books and sheets of paper with scattered ink dispersed all around her, Natsu's head was down while she worked away at whatever it was she was doing. He didn't ask, he never did. Quite frankly, he just didn't care.

Yet, on that day something pushed him to. "What's with all these papers, Lucy?"

She looked up from one of the sheets she was holding and shrugged.

He sighed and picked one of the papers up before having it snatched away. "Sheesh," he said waving her off. "Ya didn't answer so what'd you expect me to do?"

"D-don't just snatch it!" her face was flushed red as she clutched the papers tighter to her chest.

He raised an eyebrow at her before laying his head down on his arms, "Are you gonna tell me what all of it is?"

Lucy considered for a moment before taking in a long breath, "It's a story..." she mumbled.

Natsu lifted his head, "What was that?"

"My story..." she muttered again.

He cupped his ear with both hands, "I'm sorry repeat that."

"IT'S MY STORY!"

Natsu fell off the bench but caught himself, propping his hands on the floor. "Alright, alright," he said wiping his pants. He grinned, "I like stories."

Lucy's eyes drifted to him and squinted, "Oh no."

"Why not?"

"Because that's the dumbest idea you've ever had- and believe me you're filled with dumb ideas, Natsu Dragneel."

"Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Say my name like that, it's weird."

She sighed, "Alright. Well I gotta get home."

"To finish your story?" he said following after her. She looked over her shoulder before opening the door, "Maybe."

"So I'm coming home with you," it was so nonchalant. Like he just claimed finding a pebble on the ground.

Lucy's ears surged with heat and she shook her head the second the word 'home' left his mouth. "A-are you crazy?"

His shoulders raised and then dropped, "What's the big deal? You act like I've never been to your house."

"Yeah but you don't just-"

"Lucy," he said. "Let me just come home with you, I want to hear the story."

She bit her lower lip, "Fine. Whatever."

Natsu's face broke out into a grin that reached his eyes. "You know if you would've said no I would've just snuck through your window."

"I know."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Not so satisfied with this chapter, it was rushed but I really wanted to post something after Chapter 10, for the most part I will be back to tweak it . Please review and all that halabalu (it's actually really fun to read them, or even gettting favorites and follows i get this warm feeling in my stomach and i'm like 'ah yes, motivation!') and thank you for your support :D


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Walking to Lucy's apartment was always something different. They rarely took the same course- Natsu and her- only occasionally took the route that wounded up in front of her door under five minutes.

That day they took a side street alleyway and walked a gravel path to her house, the long way. The sun was beginning to set, but with the way the buildings rose in Magnolia, it looked like it was setting. The sky was splattered with the markings of passing time: a mesh of red, pink, orange and a grain of purple. The clouds, thin wisps of white, canvassed the workings of the sky's multiparty of colors with its long frames. No sign of the pounding rain just minutes before to be entailed.

Lucy's high-heels clicked off against the rocky path, her hands wrapped tight around the arm of her crimson bag. Natsu's hands were folded behind his head, his steps silent against the ground. They walked in silence and maybe to an outsider the atmosphere may have looked tense, but between them silence took a different definition.

He yawned and scratched his pink hair, "Come on, Luce. The longest way there is?"

She only smirked in amusement, he groaned and hunched over. "Man, I'm so tired," he slurred the last word.

Lucy pointed her chin higher and pushed her shoulders back, "You were the one that wanted to hear my story."

"I never said I wanted to walk this far!" he crumbled on the floor like a pile of laundry. "Lucy..." he whispered against the rocks. "I... I don't think I can make it any further."

She stepped over his prostrated body, making sure to step on his spread out fingers. He was on his feet in ground-breaking time. His shout bounced off the walls of the alley and somewhere behind them a cat howled and ducked behind a box. "Why?"

"You're being ridiculous!"

"So you step on my hand with _heels?!"_

Lucy giggled, Natsu's shoulders eased as they continued walking. As both made their way deeper into the alley, and their feet tread the labyrinth of stones, they came to an abrupt corner. It extended only two ways: straight and a narrow left, they turned. The creeping bricked walls loomed over their heads and congested the two, pushing them together until their shoulders touched. Neither one of them mentioned this but occasionally Lucy would glance over at him, her cheeks hinted with pink, to see if he was okay with it.

Natsu's face was blatant with boredom.

Fortunately, for her sake, by the time they turned the next corner they were in front of her apartment complex and pushing open the mahogany door to her room. Natsu strode in without an invitation and jumped right on top of her yellow cushioned bed. "Make yourself at home," she muttered loosening the key from the lock.

Natsu pushed on his hands and sat up against the bed's wooden frame, "Alright." Lucy didn't have to turn from her desk to know he was grabbing one of her pillows, this had already become a routine. "Read to me, Great Author."

She leaned her head forward to hide the blush rising on the apple's of her cheeks, "You were really serious about that?"

He shrugged, "Why else would've I come?"

"For whatever reason you've come here- _uninvited_- before."

The corners of his mouth lifted, "It's just really... homey here."

"Homey?"

Natsu nodded.

"Right, okay. Do you want anything?"

He blinked, "Since when have you ever offered me something?"

Lucy looked down at her papers, "Don't think anything about it, idiot."

"Well then. I just want you to read the story, stop stalling."

"I'm not stalling anything!"

"Then read!"

Lucy rolled her eyes and clipped the thin stack of paper as she positioned herself against the wooden chair. She took a breath, taking one last glimpse at Natsu before letting the words on paper become verbal.

The story was short and as the young girl across him continued to turn ink into voice, he couldn't help but lose himself. How many times had he just blocked out Lucy's nagging or yelling? Too many to count. But then was different. He could feel her words seeping through his pores and forcing him to listen and catch every syllable she spit out. Although in his part, he didn't feel forced at all. He wanted to hear her, he wanted her to read more and more. He didn't care what it was, who it was about, all he wanted was to hear Lucy keep reading the way she was then.

It was different. And the different that made it hard to explain and even harder for Natsu. But when you sat down with someone and watched them talk about or simply do things they truly loved, you couldn't help but feel even happier. That's how he felt, he didn't know how to answer the question marks bursting in his mind other than that way. Watching Lucy read, down to the last period of her page, filled him with nothing but gaiety.

Lucy's story was about a teenage girl who moved to a new town in order to further herself as a wizard. She had one set goal as she arrived to the new place she'd call her home, and she would stop at nothing until she achieved it: it was to become a wizard at one of the most famous guilds of the whole country. It follows her as she meets new people, gets entangled with shady characters- until she's rescued by this boy who seems too enthusiastic and dumb to help himself much. The two, along with his little furry sidekick, form this unbreakable bond that leaves Natsu with nothing but jealousy and awe. It's like the two characters were made for each other and not in the 'soul mate' type of way. Maybe it could lead to that he tells himself but in the beginning you can't help but feel that their connection goes deeper than that of a soul mate, that word alone is nothing but child's play compared to the relationship the two share.

And it does.

Lucy's voice only starts hitting a rocky road when the two main characters reach a love-scene, the only one in her story Lucy told him as she looked down at her paper with watery eyes and red cheeks. Maybe it made her uncomfortable but he wanted her to keep reading, he was never one for those sappy romances but he needed to know what would between the two. Would the boy figure his feelings for the girl? Or was he just too dense.

He was. As Lucy read the paragraph of it all going down, the boy hadn't felt anything. He just titled his head and looked at her with confused eyes, asking her why she was being 'so weird'. Lucy placed the papers inside a folder and looked back at Natsu, her face back to her natural skin-tone. "There," she said. "You can leave-"

Natsu's mouth was against Lucy's before neither of them could decipher the situation. Both their lips were flat against each other's until Natsu perked his and pecked the top of her lip and then the bottom. Lucy was still frigid in her seat, her head awkwardly turned to Natsu who was crouched on her bed. But she didn't pull away and he didn't stop. His mouth opened on hers awkwardly and Lucy just watched him do it with wide eyes. Natsu's eyelashes were long and dark against the pale of his skin and when Lucy opened her mouth against Natsu's, they opened.

No one knew what they were doing, how they were doing it, or even why. But they kept at it, slobbering like hungry dogs on each others mouths, waiting for the other to pull away first. It was just that, though, they didn't want to. Lucy didn't feel any attachment right then, it was never love-at-first-sight between them. Even Natsu didn't realize his feelings then. It wasn't until weeks later that they realized their feelings for each other. So what was keeping them like that?

It was her first kiss and it was his. Maybe he didn't realize the importance of that moment but she did. And while Natsu was just her friend right then, something shoved behind the cluttered file-cabinets of her mind opened and told her, "This is just what you wanted."

So when he closed his eyes again and she rose from the chair and onto the bed, she couldn't help the smile as Natsu pressed his face deeper into hers, hitting her forehead with full force.

And in the heat of the moment, all he managed to mumble against her lips was, "I'm sorry."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

It is March 7th, 3:01 a.m.

And there is smoke in the air.

Moving through the compound of dull colored temporary homes of those who protect and serve. The fog moves at a leaden pace with no rush or worry of being caught. Not like it will, because it won't. Because _they_ made sure it wouldn't. And _they_ made sure to its targets it would be just another night of sleep. Another night, but no morning.

It swivels and bends through the creases of the murky colored tents. It slithers and whispers with feet that can't be heard through the floorboards of the mild air inside. It moves, stealthily like a crouching tiger, deeper into the premises of tent I-77.

The two men are sleeping in their designated locations. One is thrown over across his cot, his legs dangling at the too-small-a-bed edges. His arms are above his head, stretched against the tents cotton canvas and grazing the plastic mat beneath the gray cot. This man's shirt is pulled up enough to expose his navel and he has a grin on his face, the corners of his mouth smeared with hot saliva.

The other man is curled inward, his back to the flaps of the tent. His long legs are tucked close to his chest, his arms wrapped around a blanket that isn't on his body. His face is set in a grimace and the mouth is drawn into pain- or maybe some form of sadness. Because there's many types of sadness.

Neither seem to be aware of the creeping smoke.

Because it is odorless.

Because the reason it was designed was for one reason and one reason alone.

To kill.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

It is March 7th, 3:05 a.m.

Estimated around three hundred miles from where the mute attack is happening, past the capital of Crocus and overhead the green mountains above the National Council of Fiore, through the city of Magnolia and at the heart of it all, were the ragged breaths and stifled shrills of Lucy Dragneel.

* * *

><p>March 7th, 3:05 a.m.<p>

It's been four minutes since the fog has crept inside the tent. Natsu and Gray were still knocked out after a rigorous day of training. In a week's time their division would be shipped to Gallowstown. Just like cooped hens, the only difference being they carried machine guns by the dozens. Metal and steel weapons of all sorts. Swords, rapiers, axes, daggers, kunai, blades by the dozens. Poisons, gases, bombs, dynamite, anything that induced death.

* * *

><p>She'd been admitted to St. Rauline's hospital in Magnolia, the East wing of child delivery. There Lucy had lay in bed just two days before her "D-Day". But just like his father, not even out of the womb and yet already had claimed his characteristics, Haru was late. The expected date came around and he wasn't ready, his head still turned away. Talk of inducing and an emergency cesarean swarmed around Lucy's hospital room. That was one week ago.<p>

* * *

><p>The majority of them were fighting for their own reasons. A team down four tents where Natsu and Gray slept fought because they liked the thrill. They were a group of four to six men and women with a lust for blood and gore. It was sickening and stomach churning but then you realized just how messed up war made you sometimes.<p>

Rumor had it that they watched their whole town wiped out by Tartarus. Some also whispered that Tartarus hadn't used guns. That part was true. When Natsu was deployed, he had to take a track from Clover Town all the way through to Shirotsume where most of the basket cases were from. He'd seen the mess, he even stopped to take count of bodies fresh on the pavement, at least the ones still partly together. Natsu counted the lives that'd been taken and added another million on his own. That was the amount of retribution he planned to give for them. It wouldn't fully pay back what they had lost. It never would.

Shirotsume was- _was_ because after the invasion it fell to rubble- one of those wealthy towns up north wedged between Mt. Hakobe and Blue Pegasus. He thought that was one of the sadder things about seeing the people in those tents be the way they turned. They'd most likely all came from high backgrounds with inherited status and wealth, but the war had driven them into a dark sanity. The people of Shirotsume witnessed something worst than Natsu had that day. While he'd heard the bombs and the haunting sound of guns, Tartarus had sent men unarmed. They picked their victims with just just the slim of their fingers and tore them apart like soft turkey.

One of them, they called him Jitters, said he watched his little sister's head explode into little chunks of red meat. After the worst of the action was done, he still sat there in the pile of shredded limbs and flesh that was left by the little girl.

Cray, one of the women assigned to that team, was nothing like her name. You'd imagine a slick, black haired old crow with chipped yellow nails and teeth rotten to the root. But she was far from that. Her looks savored her personality, though, but hid the corruption behind her turquoise eyes. No one really knows what happened to her or what caused her to go stale. Sometimes she'd sit there and stare at you for a long moment, her eyes drawn back and the pupils so wide they seem to take up her whole iris. Then she'd pull back her lips and bare her teeth at you with this sinister smile while rubbing her wrist like she has a bad itch.

It could give anyone the creeps.

Not that Cray, or Jitters, or anyone else inside that tent filled with "special cases" of the division chose to be that way. No one woke up one morning and decided, "Today, I'm going to be a sadist!"

Or, "Blood? Gore? Death? Count me in! I got a head filled with different ways to snap a neck and still keep them alive so they can see me peel the skin of their fingers away!"

Things happened that made you that way.

But even the tent down four of I-77 wasn't stirring. As far as consciousness went, no one was aware of the lurking smoke in the middle of the night. There was no sun and the moon was well hidden behind the circle of trees that encompassed their compound. The crickets were long gone and any animal that could sense the presence of something awful with their sixth sense had already hitch-hiked out of there.

The only animals that remained were the ones who were staying alive so others could too.

Even if it meant they wouldn't.

Gray was the first to catch that something was wrong. His eyes jolted open and his hands dropped the blanket he was wringing with his hands. Sweat clung his navy shirt to his back and glistened in the dark behind his neck. But it was too late. The fog was already inside and was growing thicker the more his eyes lingered on it.

He reached for the blanket, ripping it at the edges and tying it over his nose and mouth. Gray was over at Natsu's cot in three long strides. The gas wouldn't burn or deteriorate him in any way. He knew the poison the second he woke up from his nightmare. Gorgonlae.

An odorless gas that takes its time to kill. It seeps through sealed rooms and grabs its prey by foggy tendrils. It suffocates the mind. If you weren't asleep already, it'd induce it in less than three minutes. It wasn't so dangerous, until used excessively. Gorgonlae was used in most sleeping pills and anaesthetics. Only when it clumped in white pockets of gas was it deadly and then it was only a matter of time until your fingers started trembling.

Those were the first signs of the poison digging its way through your pores. The second was foam out of your mouth, blood tears, and in rare occasions if you were lucky enough, death. There was no actual pain. Gorgonlae deactivated those nerves but caused enough distress in your body to reject that.

Gray's thoughts were all muddled. He wasn't thinking about Gorgonlae or the fact that he couldn't even see his feet anymore. His mind was clouded with its own Gorgonlae but instead of a mindless smoke, it was seven words with a taunting promise behind: _"I'll make sure nothing happens to him."_

* * *

><p>The night of March 7th, the clock reading 3:05, marked the birth of a new and possibly the lost to another. Right then Lucy wasn't conscious of anything other than the singing voice of Wendy in her ear repeating, "Deep breaths. That's it. You're doing fine- here." She pushed a hot towel in her hand and Lucy squeezed it until it hurt.<p>

Lucy cursed Natsu. Men. The world. Being a women. She cursed the pain but more she cursed the pink haired man. Not because he wasn't there but because he'd done this to her. Maybe it was the hysteria and the lack of sleep she'd received in her stay at the hospital, or simply the raging pain twisting below. But she cursed him and laughed. She laughed and Wendy stroked her hair repeating her instructions in the same honey-milk voice.

* * *

><p>His hands were reaching for anything the gas hadn't touched but it was already all over the floor. Then his eyes drifted to Natsu's shirt. Gray slapped his hand down over Natsu's face and pinched over his nose and mouth. The impact was enough to wake him but the pink haired dormant was still sound asleep like his life wasn't in peril.<p>

The shirt slipped off with ease and it wasn't long before he tied it around Natsu's face. And then it hit him as he lifted the unconsciousness man and slung him over his shoulder, _Did__ the Gorgonlae already take effect on him?_

Then he was running. He ran past the uniform tents, past the dim lanterns left outside at night. He ran as fast as he could until he got to the center of their base. His eyes were watering- or maybe they were just going blurry. He could be imagining it. _That's just as bad,_ he told himself. The fire of their camp was still barely lit with light embers flickering away in the ashes. The smoke hadn't reached that side of the compound yet but his eyes told him otherwise.

His head pivoted to his right, the dozen white tents of the infirmary. Darted left, the division's general and lieutenant's chambers. But he couldn't find it. Where was it? It was just there. He took a step and almost tripped. It was just-

* * *

><p>She pushed, gripping Wendy's hand the towel in the other. Her blonde her was mat against her forehead and some clung to the sweat on her flushed cheeks. The hospital gown, a pale blue with insignificant lavender polka dots, was falling off her shoulder revealing the pale skin curved into her collar-bone. Her heart was going to burst and not through her chest. With all the energy she could muster within a five mile radius, she took it all greedily and hungry and pushed.<p>

* * *

><p><em>There!<em>

* * *

><p><em>Push.<em>

* * *

><p>He pulled the string attached to the wooden pole. The alarm cried in warning, drowning out the thud of his knees and Natsu's body.<p>

* * *

><p>Then the shrills of light kissed cries. Her eyes blurred with still images that were frozen in frames. Her fingers releasing Wendy's.<p>

* * *

><p>The shadows of Gorgonlae took him.<p>

* * *

><p>A warm glow pulled her. Just like Natsu would.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>I'm really sorry with how confusing this chapter may be because it's cut in the "worst" parts. But that's how life is, at least that's how I tried capturing it in this chapter. I wasn't going to place a AN's (all these breaks are making _me _nauseous) but I figured it'd be best to explain why I wrote the way I did. It's pretty obvious, while Natsu or even Gray could be risking their life out on the field, everyone else is just back home. Sure they have worry and stuff like that but if they die they wouldn't know right in the moment. Even Natsu isn't even aware that his first son is being born (he's not even awake!) So I hope you guys didn't mind that too much. I have a ways to go with this story and it still has a while to develop, I do hope you stick around because there's some serious twists in the near future *rubs hands mischievously* Until tomorrow!


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

The last thing Gray remembered was pulling a sakura hair colored figure off a moaning cot.

As he ripped back his eyes and they adjusted to the florescent lighting of the infirmary room, the rest of his memory sprinted back. The back of his head twisted the ends of his nerves and forced him to lie back down after trying to get back up.

He'd pulled the rope to wake everyone up. He knew enough that he was under the influence enough to rig a stage three of Gorgonlae poison and that the smoke he'd seen at the base of the camp was probably a mild hallucination. Mild because there were worst cases reported when it came to it.

With the slowest movement he could manage, he turned his head. There, in the same position he'd seen him before wrapping his face with his old filthy shirt, was Natsu. Even the drool was in the same position it'd been. How long had they been there? How long had the poison dug into them?

Enough to knock them out and take effect but not long enough to kill.

He let out a sigh of relief. That was good. That was _really_ good.

_"I'll make sure nothing happens to him."_

His own voice rang in the silence of the tent and he had to remind himself that it was just a melodramatic flashback, no one was repeating those words.

Just what had he gotten himself into promising something like that? And to Lucy? Not just Lucy, a _pregnant _Lucy. Wasn't it selfish? What about Juvia? Didn't he love her?

_Of course I do_, he countered the question. _But Lucy and Natsu-_

There was no excuse, but being weighed at the same time there wasn't a fair enough reason not to go through with it either. It was without saying that Gray would give his life up if it meant saving Natsu- hell, he was about to rip the cloth off his own face to tie it around his if there was no other way. And he knew it was always vice-versa.

Originally, that's what he'd meant when he told Lucy he'd protect him. Looking at Natsu now though, his face still smeared with the same lopsided grin- what was he even dreaming about?- he wondered whether maybe there was more of a reason to why he'd protect him for her. Well, there was. But he wasn't going to mention it to him yet. He'd keep that reason to himself until he managed to tell him.

There was their child. That was a reason enough. He knew just as much as anyone what it was to lose not just one parent but both. While Lucy was strong, she was no Wonder Women or perfect being that could just jump right back into life after a loss. No, she'd lose it. He didn't like thinking that way but he knew it was true.

Lucy would lose herself in a dark stupor, an empty void that only sucked and didn't push. She would be trapped and entangled into black vines, thoughts of anguish, deceit, and hate. The smile she still somehow managed to carry- how Juvia, too, managed to carry- after having being left alone, would be wiped away and painted over with white-out the color of her skin. And then the little boy, Haru, would grow up without parents. One dead and the other lost.

Gray hadn't realized he was still starring at Natsu until the man beside his bed squinted his eyes open and peered at him with a disgust look. "Quit lookin' at me like that, Gray."

He softened his features back to a glare, "Sleeping Beauty, you're awake."

Natsu scrunched his face and made to lift himself but then fell back, the hinges of the bed squeaking under his weight. He grabbed at his hair and groaned, "What the hell happened?"

"You would know if you weren't asleep."

Someone at the other side of the room shushed them and he lowered his voice in consideration. "I think it may have been a suprise attack," obviously. Gorgonlae wasn't just found anywhere in the massive amounts that had been unleashed.

Natsu was serious, his eyes determined with something Gray couldn't name right then. "Attacked? When?"

"The middle of the night, a little before sunrise. I'd say two-to-three."

Natsu asserted the information before asking his next question. His voice was below a whisper and Gray had to strain his ears to hear. "Casualties?"

Gray turned his head back to the curved roof of the tent. "Not that I know of. I woke up a little before you."

"I know. You were starring at me for a really long time, Snow White."

"Don't get yourself all riled up, there's nothing special to look at."

"Hey, Gray."

"What?"

"You ever get the feeling that you feel something before you're supposed to get that feeling?"

"What are you talking about?"

Beside him Natsu tried to shrug and quickly regretted it. "I mean," he said, shifting his shoulder in a better position. "Like you feel something."

"I got that."

"If I wasn't crippled right now I'd kick you in the balls."

"I'm surprised you know what those are."

"I'm surprised you have any."

"And how would you know?" Natsu turned his back to Gray, making him smirk in triumph.

"I think Lucy's supposed to have the kid soon... if she hasn't already," the playfulness of his voice was hidden in an interior Natsu usually stored away when he was really hurting. "It kinda blows, ya know?"

Gray sighed, "I know. Juvia wanted one too."

"Like a pet?"

"No, dumbass. A kid."

"Oh," Natsu pictured another Gray only this one three foot tall and grimaced. "Why not then?"

He shrugged and closed his eyes, "I didn't want to leave her alone with all of that."

Natsu's pine colored eyes went dark around the edges and drifted to the dirt between their cots. Gray hadn't meant it directed to him, he wouldn't even joke about it. But he couldn't help but feel guilty that he _had _left Lucy alone. Wendy and Juvia were there, they'd always be there, but he'd left her _alone. _There was a broad line between friends and lovers, each that brought their own solitude and compianionship and he'd completly taken out the companionship and left her with an iceberg of solitude.

Sensing the course of his thoughts, Gray turned on his bed and tried getting up again. The hinges of the bed squeaked and the canvas of the cot drooped down with his weight as he sat up. "Don't beat yourself up," he said. "She's supporting you so don't ruin that by thinking you're doing the wrong thing."

"Yeah. You're right," he muttered.

"I know I am. Now pick yourself up and lets go get some food before it's gone."

"Oi, don't order me around like I'm you're daisy."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Not much happened in this chapter. I do need to like send a warning out here, things in this story will now start taking a minor (or possibly big on how you see it) turn. It's going down a new path and I guess "arc" per-say. I'll also be taking a little hiatus, like two weeks. So bare with that until I'm back and when I do return, prepare for some twists! :D


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

They were gathering near the flagged-pole, all scattered on patchy ground or cool rocks. It was still dawn and the sky was in a cross between purple and red, blood drenched atmosphere over their heads. The air around them was sodden with the humid and stale air of a coming spring, the patches of grass beneath them stained with morning's dew.

Feet shuffled in with muffled whispers that slowly died out as they reached their destination. The silence dragged until Erza stepped into the fray, their Second in Command.

Natsu perched up from his sitting position and made his way over to her, "Hey, what happened last night?"

She didn't even glance at him. "Sit down."

But Natsu didn't waver, "I just asked you something."

"I said sit down, Natsu."

"We're we under attack?"

Erza looked at him this time, her eyes saturated in brown and highlighted with cream yellow. They weren't harsh or sharp at the edges, Natsu shot the same look back. "Sit down," she gave each word its own distinction. "Now."

He stood there before sucking his teeth and drawing away, sitting across Gray who had been watching the whole thing. "You shouldn't poke your nose where it shouldn't be."

Natsu waved him off and slouched down on his elbow, "Yeah, whatever."

"I'm sorry for the lack of responses we've been able to unveil to your questions," while Erza wasn't raising her voice, it droned out over the camp. "But the truth in the matter is that we know as much as you do." Without the sun around, Erza's hair peppered violet and shadows encompassed hollows around her eyes. Natsu didn't look at her anymore, Gray's eyes still lingered. "We're assuming it wasn't an attack but a careless mistake on our part. The gas identified as gorgonlae was somehow leaked into the compound. Luckily, there were no major injuries and no one was severely hurt."

"But it was coming from our side of camp," Gray said. Natsu looked up at him now, his jaw clenched tight around the bone. His eyes set and questioning Erza's judgment, he guessed. "It couldn't be our mistake if it started from the farthest end of the compound. The weapons artillery isn't even near our jurisdiction and even someone of extreme low-rank would know where the poisons are sealed and that's not even close to the epicenter of where it started."

Erza pursed her lips, the only faltering stance of her gallant built. "Our only option is to continue moving forward to our predated target, Gallowstown. With no injuries or gaps in our plans, this shouldn't be something to stress over," her eyes fell over Gray. "Especially to quarrel over with premature conceptions." He clenched his fists, "You're free to go. We leave at dusk." Crimson strands swayed with her turn, she stopped half-way towards her tent. "And, Gray?"

He stared at her armored back, "Don't step out of your boundaries. You know better."

* * *

><p>She'd dreamed of him twice before their meeting. Once when he was nothing more than cells clustered together inside her abdomen with no emotion or "life". In her dream, she was in a cherry orchard, flakes of pink carpeted over pine green. Curtains of cherry petals over stark brown. Her feet were bare—she knew because of the cool awareness that shimmied as she moved past each standing tree. Above her, the sky was blue. An endless and deep-set marine that envied over the ocean, wisps of white framing its features.<p>

For the most part she was alone.

She was walking, trunk after trunk, pink head after pink head, until she reached the clearing.

Then she saw him.

_Him_. She knew a him before he even knew himself.

A small structure, no taller than two feet, with a full head of blonde hair—a pink blonde that glowed white under the sun. Dimpled cheeks, almond eyes set with emerald, and a pointed chin like his father's.

She stood dumbfounded in the crossing from her orchard to his clearing. A soft wind swept and pressed against her back, she moved forward. He turned, his eyes glancing over her bare feet, a cotton dress, and then her face.

He smiled.

The second time was when she collapsed. Something inside her told her it was more than Wendy was predicting. That it wasn't exhaustion nor was it stress, there was more to what was happening to her. Her greatest fear was knocking on the ruptured door and she was afraid it was going to break in. She was afraid she was going to lose him.

The orchard was bare, the petals wilting on the ground with mingling white snowflakes. The sky was gray and he was still in the same clearing as he was that one time. This time when he turned, his smile was even brighter. Regardless of the dying life around him, he flashed the tiny nubs of white in his mouth until his eyes squished closed to make room for his grin.

She was sure, then, that he was going to be alright.

But now she was looking at him—holding him—in her arms. He wasn't x-feet away from her. There was no crossing between them because he was here, he was with her. And he was hers.

The tear fell from her eye and over the white swaddle wrapped around his body. She smiled and pressed him closer to her, his soft skin bristling against her hospital gown. Then she smiled back.

* * *

><p>"Oi, Erza!" Natsu was outside her tent, the barrage of brown skinned men kept Natsu from entering. One of them pointed his rifle at him, "No visitors."<p>

"I'm not visiting."

"Then leave."

"Erza!" he shouted. One of them grabbed his arm and he yanked it away, placing his hand on his shoulder and flipping him over. The other was on his back just as he flicked his wrist, but that was his mistake. Without a second's hesitation, Natsu took the man's arm—who was fallen on the ground—and slung him over his shoulder, hitting the one grappling his own back. They were both on the ground in no less than four seconds.

He leaped over their unconscious bodies.

Erza wasn't inside the sheltering of the beige canvas tent. The bare floor was left with no markings that someone had been there. The air was still with no trace of her fragrance to be followed. The desk, sitting to his right with its wooden legs, was kempt and ready for a soon departure. When he moved closer and lifted the single manila envelope laying at the center of the wooden table, a single sheet folded in at itself—

"Who gave you permission to barge into your commander's quarters?"

Natsu tensed under the pressure of Erza's blade. The cool steel kissed the goose-bumps of his throat, he was still. "Hey, think of Lucy," he said under heavy breaths.

She sheathed her sword and put her hand over the butt of the blade. "I'll be doing her a favor—what do you want?"

He lifted his chin towards the crevice of the tent, "How about telling those guys out there that I'm on a name-basis with you first?"

Erza scoffed, "You know as well as I do that even with my order I can't be left unprotected. Even you could turn around and become a spy."

Natsu strode over to the spotless desk and plopped into the rickety wooden chair behind it. "I'd never move over to Tartarus. Not now, not then, not ever. Not after what they did to us."

The red haired women pursed her lips, restraining a comment. She neutralized her features again, "Well, quit stalling. What is it?"

Now it was Natsu's turn to stare at her with cold eyes. "You know something," he said. "Back there, you and Gray knew something you're not telling us."

There was silence for a moment with only the tinkering of movement outside. "So you're not going to get those scum back?"

"There were no casualties and as far as we know, everything is still intact."

He was shaking his head. "That's it?"

"What more do you want, Natsu? The second the attack hit, the black ops dispersed to locate them and came back with nothing," she whispered.

"So—what? We leave it at that? We just assume our own division released gorgonlae on us by _accident_," he spit the word out. "I joined the army to protect, not to be inside some joke. If our own men don't even know what they're doing then what chance do we have against Tartarus?"

"Natsu."

He lowered his voice but the venom lingered. "There's people back there that can't protect themselves. People who _want _to protect the ones they love and care for but can't because of internal reasons or they're too scared," his eyes beamed with a green flame. "There's nothing wrong with fear unless it becomes you. We're here to fight for those people. We're here because we're scared but we _can _fight for them. Those people—moms, dads, kids—Erza, I saw kids with their insides spilling out of their stomachs. Those people are counting on our protection, and you're just throwing it over your shoulder?"

Erza pushed down the rock forming in her throat. He was right and she knew. And it wasn't in her character to just turn an oblivious eye to the event that unfolded the night before, but it wasn't in her jurisdiction either to pursue. "I know," she said. "And you're right."

"Of course I am."

"But there's nothing to build off. What happened last night—"

The flame behind Natsu's eyes was flaring now and splashing a deep set green. "No, there is something to build off! A week—we're going to be fighting those bastards, and you're gonna lead us to victory. This—" he waved his arms around. "Was all motivation. No one died, no one got hurt, but someone could've. They threatened our security thereby threatening the security of those back home. Erza, if anything this should make all of us kick some major ass."

"Your spirit is one that doesn't dwindle, Natsu."

"Well, then. Can I know?" he said nonchalantly. The faint of a smile crept at the corners of his mouth.

A shadow floated over the brown in Erza's eyes. Her smile fell from her face. "No."

It slipped. "Why not?"

"Natsu, this isn't some game where things fall in the hands you want. Or some sermon where you say some moving words and the ground gravels at your feet." She stood in front of Natsu, one hand on the table between them, she leaned down, her hair fell over her shoulders. Her eyes leveled with Natsu's, searching for something he hadn't realized yet. Natsu, unaware, was clutching the arms of the chair but couldn't bring himself to break her gaze.

Erza drew away, her chin lowered and the bangs that framed her face obscuring her eyes. "Erza—"

She lifted the enveloped Natsu had opened before and handed it to him, "What is it?"

"A letter."

"With like words?"

She sighed. "There's more to what you want to know but aren't aware of. Secrets and perhaps betrayals—depending how you see it—that at some point were bound to be revealed to you." Her eyes glazed over the ripped seal of the envelope. "I said I wouldn't tell you. But I was not one of those who chose to refrain." Now she looked at him with eyes he had not seen since they were nothing but abandon orphans found by Makarov. So soft and kind, with a bitter sadness lined at the seams of their irises. Sympathy and something else. Something curved around the brown haze of her eyes he'd never seen in anyone's eyes. Not a longing but something along the lines of it. A dark cloud with a hidden light.

No. He'd seen the same look before. The day he'd been found by Makarov. He'd seen it, because he'd given it to him. Then he was barely spurting the age of eleven, so the look he was gaining from the old man was nothing to acknowledge. But now…

He took the envelope.

When he reached the openings of the tent, Erza spoke up. Her voice low as if she were speaking to herself, but with Natsu's ears he caught it all. Down to the last breath of her lungs.

"Submitting into fate is a cowardly ordeal."

Natsu froze, a hand gripped the fabric of the tent. A breeze waltzed over his shoulder. When he turned to look back at Erza, there was his grin plastered on the peach of his skin.

"I'm no coward."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>So, now the adventure chapter was bit damped butbutbut, you have to start it somewhere right? And I know the Lucy thing was kind of just thrown in there but I felt like I had to show where she was while everything was happening, do you feel my feels? Things will begin taking a turn now and I hope you enjoy it! Until next time :D Please remember to leave feedback because it's always fun hearing what you guys have to say!


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

"_Don't turn around," he shouted. But his words were barely audible against the crashing of the roof. Behind his closed eyelids, the fire burned brighter than it should have. "Stay where you are! Do you understand, boy? Don't move!"_

"_But, dad—"_

"_Don't turn around! Strength of the Gods, listen to your father this last time."_

_He bit down on his quivering lip and obeyed his command. There was a prick at the nape of his neck, the faint sweep of his feet, and then his body connecting with the taste of morning dew grass._

_He'd managed to turn his head and open his eyes. Enough to see the final crumbles of his house fall to flames. The flick of scaled dagger, a tail? But it was gone before he could acknowledge it._

_His eyes were closing then._

_The final image, before succumbing to an inevitable sleep, was the rising sun._

_Blazing the sky as the fire glazed Earth._

* * *

><p><em>X777, <em>

There were times he kept to the side streets of Magnolia—when he wasn't causing mayhem on Main Street or the town's central. Those days it was usually gloomy and the sky a shabby gray that meant most people weren't crowding stores or parks because of the rain.

He had a vague sense of remembering his parents, or more so, his father. He'd dug through the deepest of crevices in his mind but had come back empty handed when remembering his mother. But he'd assumed that his blush colored hair was inherited from her and his pointed chin as well.

This was almost obvious to him because the little memory he did have of his father, he'd remembered a scolding red haired man with a firm jaw and set green eyes. His skin was the same cream color completion of his father's, far from the porcelain white his mother fashioned. Their smiles—both his father's and his own—were daring and sharp, and practically took up most of his face when they gifted someone with its view. His mother's was subdued and small.

But those were mere things his father had mentioned and never a picture was shown of who this mysterious women was that'd bred such a lively child. Had his personality been fragmented from his father's? Or had his mother's inner beauty been parallel to her exterior appearance?

These questions never swarmed his mind but remained kept in a compartment stored beneath his eyelids.

He was crouching behind the metal barrels of a bakery's trash can when he heard the footsteps against the pitter-patter of rain drops. His back pressed against the bakery's brick wall, the footsteps stopped. A rat scuffled over his thin ankles, the footsteps continued.

His bony fingers reached for the loaf of bread the baker's wife had given him just an hour ago. The black course at the bread's ends had lost most of its warmth and the parts that weren't scorched were starting to become soggy. He'd intended to preserve it for as long as he could, but with the weather being as it was, there was nothing he could do about it anymore. He shoved it in his mouth.

"Careful now. You'll choke".

And he did. He coughed whatever had gotten through his mouth onto the muggy ground, he stared at it with lustful eyes. Then they fell with a scorn over the smiling man's face. "What?" he said. "Are you angry?"

The umbrella he was holding kept the rain from continuing to fall on the boy's head. White wisps of hair were squished out on the side beneath a purple hat, when he looked closer, he realized he was just bald. His smile was framed by the same color white as his hair, it puffed out and reached the corner of his jaw—obviously groomed, he thought. The old man's eyes were squinted shut, his eyebrows raised in curiosity and waiting. His clothes, indifferently from the boy's, were pressed and clean. The same shade of violet as his head garment with the yellow sleeves of his shirt rolled up to his elbows. On one of the loops of his brown slacked pants was a keychain with the pendant of some strange symbol.

"Well aren't you the observant one. Are you going to eat me with those eyes of yours?"

The boy pursed his lips together. "Don't talk much?" The old man opened his eyes and nodded towards the dropped bread. "Don't eat either, huh?" he laughed.

"Listen, Gramps. This here is my territory so you better leave before you get hurt," he finally said.

"Oh, is that so?"

"Don't take me lightly, old man."

The short man switched his weight to his right leg, the pendant caught a raindrop. "What's that?" he asked.

He looked at the pendant and then back down at the boy, "That's another story. Would you like to hear it?"

The boy's face scrunched into a questioning frown, "I'm not sitting here for small talk, Gramps."

He scoffed. "Right, well," his leg bumped the boy's ankle as he sat down beside him. "I guess I am."

Not having it, the boy pushed against his shoulder. "No, get up. You can't sit here."

He ignored his arguments. "What's your name?"

The boy stopped struggling and dropped his hands, he looked away. "I don't have a name."

"Oh, but I think you do."

"Then if you know so much then why the hell you askin' me?"

The umbrella crashed down on his head before he could raise his scrawny arms to stop it, he was standing the split second after. "I'm not afraid to hit an old man!" he said through closed teeth.

He was smiling again, "Neither am I." He dusted off his pants, the boy was at eye-level with him now. "Care to tell me your name?"

The boy pouted and looked the other way, "Natsu."

"Natsu?"

"Ya heard me didn't ya?"

"My name is Makarov," he said. Natsu turned his attention back at him, his shoulders eased at the man's smile this time. "Natsu, I have a place for people like you."

The pink haired boy cringed back, "Don't talk to me like that, Gramps."

Makarov dragged him by the neck and into his armpit, "Listen, kid. Be a little more considerate, I'm trying to save yourself from this filth."

He pulled back, "I don't need saving from anyone! Not from you, not from my dad, not from no one!" His chest heaved with his shouts.

The elder's feature softened. "You've been hurt."

Natsu's bottom lip was quivering, he tightened his fists. "You don't know nothing, old man."

He stepped forward, "It's alright to be angry at those who let you down, Natsu."

"Don't talk to me like you know me."

His wrinkled cheeks fell behind a sad smile that meant he knew more than he was giving. Natsu looked down at his scarred palms. "Alright. I'll go with you."

"I knew you would."

* * *

><p>The grandeur building was situated on the southern coast of Magnolia Town. No more than four to probably five kilometers up Magnolia's central path. It was near the Caldia Cathedral, Natsu knew this not because he was religious but because when winter would stride in he'd find shelter under its florescent roof. The strong order of the sea's breeze reached their standing point and his ears twitched up with the sound of men hollering orders from ships.<p>

Natsu's eyes skimmed over the gray building. He took in its rich architecture. Its banner, the dozens of flaring crests, that were labeled with the same symbol Makarov had dangling from his pants. The head of the building stretched with long arched tiles lined up after the other with simple curved protrusions at their ends. The summit of the building was like no other he'd seen in Fiore—not that he'd venture as far as Magnolia—round and pointed with four pillars keeping it aloft. But it wasn't the different architectural design that'd caught his eye, it was the glowing bell beneath it. The sun was hitting it in just the right position and it caught it back like it belonged to it all along. Then it passed to the young boy, but instead of admiring its refraction, he squinted against the light.

He turned to Makarov, "Does it work?"

"What?"

"The bell!"

"Oh, right. No. We've never used it."

He puffed his cheeks in disappointment. He'd climb up there and see for himself.

Natsu's eyes slid to the final and most obvious part of the building: the gold plaque with its name. "Fai…ry… Tail?"

Makarov nodded as if just the sound of its name gave him vigorous images of proudness. "Yes, Fairy Tail."

"So what is it?"

"A bar."

Natsu's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. "I'm not even twelve yet, old man!"

He braced himself as Makarov lifted his hand again. He waited, and waited. But the hit never came. Makarov clasped the back of Natsu's neck and squeezed. "There's more to it, kid. Believe me. Look closer."

But there was nothing. Makarov's hand slipped from his neck, "Right. Well, you might be too young to see it."

"Whattdaya mean I'm too young to see it? I'm looking right at it!"

Makarov's eyes were lingering over the structure in front of them now, something hidden behind his eyes made Natsu hold still. His breath tight in his chest, Makarov turned to him. "There's secrets we hold dear to ourselves because of greed," his wrinkled face broke into a grin. "But there will come a time where even the strongest of the strong won't be able to hold it anymore."

Natsu scratched the back of his head, "I don't know what you're talking about. You got any food? My stomach hasn't shut up since you made me drop my bread."

"Keep talking like that and I'll make sure all you have for the rest of your time here is soggy bread."

* * *

><p><em>X791<em>

On the desk across his cot, the same one where he had been sitting writing his letters to Lucy for the past six months, was a clock. It was round and dented on its left side. It ticked away seconds that couldn't be brought back but only added. Two, three, forty seconds passed and he hadn't moved from his position over the canvas of his bed.

The letter was still gripped between his fingertips, but when the clock ticked away two minutes, the wind carried it to the ground. He didn't stir. His eyes, more brown than green right then, were staring at the slight opening of the tent, his legs grounded while his mind was aloft. His hands made as if they were molded to hold the letter forever.

The clock ticked two minutes and fifty seconds.

Makarov closed the door behind him, slowly the loud banter in the pub area of the building dispersed into nothing. Natsu turned in his seat to follow the man sit in the reclining chair behind the mahogany desk. He held his gaze until the older man grinned, "Willed, aren't ya?"

"Why can't I go back out with the others?"

"There's rules, Natsu."

"I know—"

"Have you ever heard of magic, Natsu?"

This caught the boy's ear, his lashes touched his eyelids. "Magic? What is that?"

The corners of Makarov's mouth dropped by the slightest but he lifted them before Natsu could notice. "It's invisible—intangible by mankind. It turns specks of dust into clouds of gold. It controls elements, it controls time. It opens gates to different realms not peaceable to the world we know. Flames become an extension, an asset."

"Wow, that really exists?"

Makarov grinned at the beam in his eyes, but his eyes drifted to the door. The grin slipped, his eyes glazed, his shoulders were tense. "No. It doesn't exist."

Something heavy fell over their heads, more on Makarov's than the ignorant eleven-year old. "In this world there's too much hatred and greed for something pure to exist. And if it did, those hands would only sully its name."

"But it's gotta exist, right? If it has a name—and we're aware of it—it's hiding somewhere," Natsu was standing on his chair, his arms following his voice to stretch his point. There was an eagerness only those oblivious to the reality around them could hold. A zeal of the innocent.

This time, Makarov's silent smile returned but his words were barely audible. Natsu leaned in to hear the secret that would be sealed inside the room, the words only their ears could hear. "Dragons. Their existence reigns true."

* * *

><p><em>X771, Midnight<em>

_They've struck the last village tonight. Even with our movement they've managed to slip past our offenses. There's been speculations of spies and traitors among our men and women, I've yet to fathom any of those ideas yet. As the days move, it slips along with the ticking time. Yesterday it was the village past the mountains, the week before was the invasion, today: the final sanctuary of magic._

_Numbers have yet been notified to me but an estimation of the whole village being wiped out is slowly being processed. _

_At least those were the thoughts I'd been considering hours before._

_There's been rumors of a survivor, maybe a few even. _

_But their purpose is almost fulfilled and those too young to remember these events will be brainwashed to believe something such as magic never existed. Soon, too, that word will become absence and disintegrate into specks of dead dust. _

_Pinpointing who these survivors—the last hope of magic—are and what they resemble, is a means that our minds can't garner just yet. Giving up is not an option, finding these children is my sole purpose. To protect them, to teach them, to let them know the truth behind the "history" they believe._

_But we know enough to know of one of them: a boy._

_Characteristics: Wisps of cherry blossomed strands, fair skin, and eyes like the sea's green. _

_Age: Not identified. Speculated to be around five._

_Region: Farron_

_Magic: Unknown_

_Type: Dragon_

_Name: Natsu Dragneel_


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Pushing back her shoulders, she strained her neck to catch a glimpse behind her without turning. They were still there and since the last time she'd checked—two blocks before—there were three of them now. But she'd managed to maintain calm, at least as far they could see. Lucy estimated them to be twenty feet away from her, synchronized with her moves at a distance.

She was walking down the empty streets of Magnolia, the drizzle of rain grazing the top of her head. The shops were closed, windows clasped shut with the curtains pulled in, doors keeping the people of the town away from situations like this. Taking in the thick air in one single breath, she clutched the bundle of life in her arms closer to her chest and picked up her pace.

But no matter how much faster she moved, they were behind her. She took a right, into a residential backstreet, and they were there too. Their faces obscured by black masks, their necks down to their hands shielded from the rain in black garments. Her breath was loud in her ears, or maybe it was the pounding of her heart.

It was neither, but the soles of the three figures' shoes bouncing against the stone pavement of the street. This time she braved to turn around, her feet already unconsciously running. Her heart skipped and pulsed adrenaline through her veins with a new vigor: they were at her heels.

But she couldn't go any faster, and Haru was starting to cry. His screams muffled from the blue fabric that protected him from outside. She was pushing against the stone, willing every part of her body to go faster. Something grabbed the hem of her shirt, knotted it into a fist, and dragged her down. Lucy pressed the boy closer to her chest and braced herself for impact, but it never came.

She opened one eye, expecting the three figures to crouch around her. But they weren't there, only one stood over her. The only thing visible were his sea green eyes. And that was all it took for the knot in her throat to dissolve "N-Natsu," she said bewildered.

"Lucy," his face split into a smile. "Lucy…" he reached for Haru but she pulled back. Natsu's head tilted, just enough for her to notice a wisp of black snap back behind his head. She was drawing away from him before she knew what it was.

She'd only made it five feet before she felt something hot—almost singeing—clasp around her middle and throw her against one of the brick apartments of the block. Her eyes scrunched against her skin, pulling themselves away from the white flashes brimming against her lids. The scorch of heat rose to her arms, she let go of Haru and he fell at her feet. Lucy blinked—once, twice, a third time—until the flashes in her eyes blurred into what was in front of her:

Natsu was walking towards her with the two other figures just at his heel. One of them stood rigid while Natsu kept moving, the black tendril holding her against the wall was coming from him. Another shadow itched closer to her, slithered past Haru—Haru, she was squirming then. Pushing against the wall to rid the hold on her wrists. He was crying, his face against the wet pavement. But she couldn't move—

It was at her waist now, the heat burning the skin under her shirt. Lucy bit down on a scream, her eyes still on Haru. "Don't hurt her too much," she was looking up at Natsu. "Remember, she is my wife."

Something pierced into her skin until it reached the raw muscle beneath it, and then she cried out. It burrowed until it hit bone and shook her body until her ears went numb to her own screams. "Stop it," a new voice said and the pressure weakened. "It's not her we're after."

Her body went rigid, "No."

Natsu took another step, kneeling down to take the crying body into his arms. Lucy squirmed against the grip on her, "No—please—Natsu, what are you doing—what's going on. I don't—"

"Ulric," and the same sensation overcame her body again. This time Natsu waved his hand and it stopped. "I told you not to hurt her."

The person beside him who'd called forth the pain shifted, "You've grabbed the boy, let's go."

"Please, Angmar. Some patience, it's a moment of reconciliation." He was looking at her now, his mouth tilted to the right in a smile that sent sparks through her body. "Seeing you like that, Lucy, it almost hurts me to do this to you." He cradled Haru to his cheek, "but holding him in my arms makes me even forget what I ever felt for you. Ulric, drop her. We're leaving."

And just like that, with the single command, she slid against the wall.

Natsu, along with the two masked people, gone.

With Haru.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>I know, I know. This chapter is unforgivably short and I haven't posted since Columbus sailed the ocean blue (1492 btw) but I need you to trust me I do have a big chapter ready for you tomorrow or Wednesday so no worries, I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU ALONE AGAIN! Please leave feedback of any kind (don't be a bully) and I shall be back very soon my young ones. But trust that there is method to this madness though it's completely out of the blue, this story is just beginning unfortunately (or maybe not, depends how you see it or how you like this little tale)


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

She woke in a cold sweat.

The cotton of her hospital gown clung to her body like a second sweaty layer of skin. It stuck in the hollow of her back and stretched open as she leaned forward and rubbed at her waist, wishing to rub the insistent burn on her skin she swore was still there. The fabric was plastered against her stomach before she realized it had really only been a dream and she wasn't being set on fire. Then she relaxed and bid herself to take a deep breath. Then another. And another. And—

Haru.

Her head nearly snapped as she whipped it to her right, the bassinet was there. Empty. She hadn't realized she'd been standing until she was ripping the ivy out of her arm and making her way to the door, bare foot and sweat dripped. The hallway of the hospital was silent, save for the endless droning of heart monitors that were ringing in her ears with every step she took.

Lucy was peering her head into opened doorways and when the door wasn't opened for her viewing, her shaking fingers would clasp around the metal of the handle and push open. But she was nearing the end of the stretch and Haru was still nowhere. The mothers were all there in this wing of the hospital, all with babies in bassinets or cribs—some were even holding them, feeding them, doing things that _she _should be doing with her kid. Her baby. Her son.

"Miss, is everything alright?" She turned to the voice, a brown haired women with soft curls framing the worried look on her face.

"My—" it came out as a squeak, she cleared her throat and tried again. "My son, where's my son—where's Haru? They took him, I don't know—"

The nurse put pale hand on her shoulder and tried to usher Lucy back toward her room. "No!" Lucy stomped her feet on the ground, gripping on a railing on the wall to keep hold in the hallway. "You're not listening to me—I saw them! They took him, they have him and I—"

She was saying something to her, whispering things to lull her into silence but Lucy wasn't having any of it. Not when she wouldn't help her, not when she was patronizing her instead of helping. No. She dug her nails into the gentle grip on her shoulder and broke into a run. She was weak, but not enough that it hindered her break by that much.

There were shouts behind her, probably screams to stop her but she had to get away for Haru. Wherever he was, whoever he was with, she'd find him.

"_Remember, she is my wife."_

It was his voice again. That voice. The one that'd clumsily proposed years back. The one that had muddled for the right way to say 'I love you', to push through his vows. It was the same one that had whispered against the nape of her neck, said her name against her own skin. It was his voice.

Her weight caved on itself. The ground rushed up to her, or maybe she was falling to meet it halfway. There was a sharp bang against her knees where the bleached tiles hit her skin with thousands of little pinpricks of jolting shock. Something stabbed into the side of her arm, hands pressed against her back, muted words in her ears.

But she couldn't hear them.

She couldn't see them.

_Liar! _She was sure she was screaming the words but even then her own voice was being ushered into a disorienting silence by her ears. Her sense were faltering but one thing was clear. She felt it under her skin, she heard it shoveling mountains of bright memories into dark corners, saw it shredding apart the canvases of what she thought was real, smelled the burning of embers as it was thrown into the fire. That single name formed bile in her stomach.

Natsu.

* * *

><p>The wind swept in through the thin crevice of the tent, catching the flimsy letter he loosely gripped with the edges of his callused fingers, and lead it away from him before slamming against the thick canvas of the tent's walls. Natsu was a dragon.<p>

"A dragon…" he whispered. Natsu's head fell forward in between his knees. His hands ran through his hair—once, twice. "A dragon!" he shot up. "Holy shit." Down again, hands on his knees. "Holy—" he ran for the letter and read the scrambled handwriting again: _Type: Dragon/ Name: Natsu Dragneel._

He was laughing, running for the opening of his quarters to go and tell—who? Who was he going to tell? Makarov made it clear in his letter that his kind wasn't wanted.

_His kind._

And who guaranteed that the letter was even associated with him. While the chances were narrow of Erza just coincidently handing it to the wrong Natsu Dragneel, there was just that very small chance.

He scoffed. _Yeah, right. _As if he'd ever bypass the opportunity to seem powerful. To _be _powerful.

But then where were the symptoms? If this was something he had—he was—why didn't any of the characteristics ever show? And why was magic such a disturbance that his people had to be murdered? Why hadn't Makarov say something to him before? Why did Erza get to know? Why—

"_I was not one of those who chose to refrain." Those. _Those.

* * *

><p>She wasn't the only one that knew then, and why didn't he know? Why didn't anyone tell him? Did Lucy know. Did—<p>

He had been twisting the fabric of the tent in his hands. Natsu stared out through the small opening, it was still early morning, they still had the attack inching closer. He'd get his answers but until then, he'd play the fool they made him out to be. And then—then he'd make them answer. Erza, Gramps—Gray.

All of them.

Unconsciousness was slowly becoming a new home for Lucy.

She fell during her pregnancy from the shock of pain.

She fell in her dream.

And now she'd fallen again just to end up in the same place she had been trying to get away from: her hospital bed.

So much for being the hero.

Her eyes blinked until she could get the focus, it took seven tries and then she recognized the pasty blue and white scheme on the walls. Her ears pulled back into function and the clicking of the radiator buzzed her eardrums. Her throat was dry and it stung like she had rubbed sandpaper against the raw meat beneath her skin until it reached the bone. But her fingers, when she tried to move them, wouldn't move. Neither would her legs. Or her head.

She was paralyzed.

How was it that you moved your fingers again? Did you even think about it? No, it was just an unconscious action that your brain sent signals out to do before you even had a chance to think of about it. But now she was laying there with no sense of recognition of the cheap fabric against her skin. Numb. Emotionless in a physical sense where all feeling—literally—is stripped from your nerves, leaving nothing but the hollow of a shell—a human body—behind.

She was straining her mind to curl her toes when the door creaked open and the same nurse that had been ushering her back to her room walked in. Given what Lucy had done to her, she approached like nothing was wrong. Lifting up a clipboard from her bedside, she made way to Lucy's heart monitor and wrote something down before looking over at her and giving her a small smile with crooked teeth.

Lucy practically rolled her eyes back trying to watch her every move.

"I know, I'm sorry," she said as she noted something more onto her board. "Not that it's policy to shoot you with drugs or anything—but we didn't want you to hurt yourself, especially in your state. You shouldn't be moving around after giving birth you know." She clipped the pen onto the plastic board and turned to face Lucy. "All you have to worry about now is recovering, leave everything else to me. Can you do that?"

_No!_She wanted to shout. _No. No. No. NO. _

Sensing her panic, the nurse put her hand over Lucy's. "Don't worry," she said low enough for only Lucy's weak ears to hear. "Everything is going to be fine."

She tried to move her lips, tried to get some form of sound out but all she managed was a mangled "Hrranru."

But she understood. And Lucy knew right away that she understood by the single drop of her face. The nurse pulled away, Lucy tried to move her muscles, her head, anything to try and make her stay and give her answers.

She didn't leave. But she didn't meet Lucy's gaze either. "The doctors were going to inform you when you were in a better emotional position," she said. "Your son has been taken into extensive care. We don't really understand either, when he was born he was as healthy as could be. But overnight…" her voice drifted. "Overnight he developed this fever, I'm not supposed to tell you further details." Her eyes were starting to water but she looked back at Lucy like her words would mean nothing without them. "I know what it's like to be kept from the dark. I know what it's like to lose a child to secrets."

* * *

><p>It was going to be noon soon. The sun was slowly beginning its arc across the blue sky. Its scars from dawn long gone along with the mayhem that occurred along with it. The incident of gorgonlae was ordered to be pushed from the soldiers' minds. Not completely, just enough to stifle questions.<p>

The thick trunks of oak dug into the ground, their roots hiding away from the mundane problems only humans could conjure. Yet they were stronger. While they had guns, weapons of mass destruction, the trees were self- sufficient. Creating their own food and discarding a waste that supports the lives of their own destructors—humans.

Did they purge their own brothers? Rid the world of different possibilities such as magic simply because—well, Natsu didn't have a 'because' so much as know one either.

Gray was in the southernmost part of the forest, not that far of a walk from their tent. Natsu bent down and lifted a small stone, extending his arm far behind his shoulder but just as he was going to release, Gray turned around. He dropped the stone and hid his hands behind his back. "Looking into it?"

"There's something off."

"Erza said not to."

He looked at him like he had six heads, "You're going to actually listen to her?"

Natsu sucked his teeth and pushed Gray out of the way so he could get a better look at his surroundings, "Like hell I am." He stopped short, his chin jutted up, nostrils flared. "Do you smell that?"

Gray pinched the bridge of his nose. "No, Natsu," he said. "We don't all have a nose like yours— what are you doing?" Natsu was adjusting himself against the trunk of the tree before pulling himself up. "If you poke your head up there you'll give off our location, idiot!"

"As if the smoke of the pit doesn't already," he said through concentrated breaths. The bark of the tree dug into his nails until he pushed his palm one more time to sit on the upmost branch. It was a risk, but he had a hunch.

"There's a smell I'm not familiar with here…" From his position, the landscape stretched out all around him. The world was a rolled up piece of taffy, being pulled and pulled out in front of him. It jutted, it sank, and it exploded into different arrays of colors. Things he couldn't notice on two feet were appearing by the dozens and beckoning for his attention. The mountains just west of his peripheral vision rose to heights, that while insignificant in comparison to Mt. Hakobe, made him realize just how miniscule he was. The birds—red, blue, yellow, and white— were perched on trees just a leap away from him and when he shifted against the dry wood, they rustled between the leaves and took flight to their next destination. He was losing himself to the distance, to the wind, to the sights he'd never stopped and bothered to care for.

He was forgetting the reason he'd even climbed the tree until his nose prodded the air again. There it was again, the same smell. A dour scent that could only be associated with blood lust, battle—war. He squinted north, a very broad generalization of where the stench was coming from but as far as Natsu's lived, his haunches were right for the most part.

And he was.

There, just a few miles north of their location, was the opening of trees. A patch of dry dirt, brown and rich enough that your nails could scrape it without much effort. It lead into the woods but was quickly covered by the roof the heads of the trees formed. The very entry of the forest they'd made their way through days before to set up camp. And there, weaving through the same path they'd taken, were the troops of Tartarus.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Snow days mean more chapters! So, I am really excited to announce that the next chapter will have most (at least I hope most) of the questions you may have long asked yourself. For the most part, the story has been a lot of build up with some not so well pacing (mostly because this was originally supposed to be a one-shot *le gasp* secret revealed- and then I got this whole extensive idea that tied with the premise of what I wanted) So I hope you guys stick along long enough (not too long no worries it's about to go dowwwwn) to experience all the twists and turns and- of course, happy moments in this story with me. Don't forget to leave a review or favorite/follow if you're a new reader to this family :D (oh yeah that's some self-promotion there) Anyways, I will be posting tomorrow or Thursday hopefully so see you guys then!


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

The first time Lucy woke up in this cherry orchard, Haru had been nothing but these little cells waiting to bloom into the body of a child she was long awaiting. The last time Lucy moved past these trees, they were bare and they were dead. Yet, somehow, against the dead and against the wilting, the little boy she had seen standing—waiting—for her at the end of the trail still managed to smile brighter than before.

The scenery of this visit was different. The pink petals that embodied the branches of the cherry blossoms that time, were now a white so crisp the light bounced off them in fragments. The sky—which then had been a vibrant hue of blue—was lilac with tints of red. But it wasn't so much the landscape that had her planted bare feet in the grass, not a single muscle willing to move. No, it was not because of that. The ambiance of her atmosphere was off. And when she didn't make a move forward, the same breeze from before came back and with the same cool tendrils it surged her forward.

And she knew what was waiting at the end this time—or rather she knew what _wasn't_. He definitely wasn't. It'd been something she never knew she'd realized, but she knew, any mother would know. So she did what Lucy would do, her chin raised high and her eyes staring straight at what awaited her presence ahead: a women in white, or maybe she was girl. Lucy could barely tell, really. She had a small frame, thick strands of snow colored hair falling against the frills of her robe. Heavy set lashes against the glow of her skin—a fairy was the word that came to her mind. From the pink pout of her lips, the adornment of wings around her ears, to the very slight curve of her naked heels, this girl was a fairy.

"I'm Mavis Vermilion," her voice soft but ringed with the same age that wrapped around her aura. "Lucy, I know you have questions but I need you to listen to what I have to say first." Lucy was still, Mavis continued. "From the beginning I've been around you—all of you—silent, but surely I've been here watching over all of you in Fairy Tail. There's a lot Makarov never mentioned to you all, a lot of secrets that have managed to keep quiet through these years and even through our own generations. Purely for the sake of your safety, but I'm afraid a lot has changed now. There is war waiting to happen—"

"War is happening," Lucy corrected her.

Mavis blushed and rubbed the back of her head, "Oh, it is? Okay hold on let me fix this," she pulled out a wrinkled white sheet of paper and erased some things. "I had this all figured—okay that's beside the point." She took a breath and composed herself back to the same demeanor, "It's just not the war you think it is. It's more than an invasion, it's more than some fringe on the country's safety. It's a war of magic, good and bad. But it's not ending there," she takes a step forward and presses her hand on Lucy's stomach. "It can just as much end right here, with him. With Natsu."

There was no mistaking the black uniforms, even with this distance he could smell the crude oil of their weapons, the sweat on their grip, the lust for blood. Just a week before they'd managed to evacuate most of the city and the surrounding villages. _Most _because even with the urgent messages they pushed through to the citizens and the threat of their lives if they remained, there were people who still refused to evacuate—some who physically could not evacuate. If things played out the way they were leading to today… Natsu didn't want to think about it.

Dawn City and the villages surrounding the coast of the ocean were all labeled as a warzone. High alert warnings of evacuation, but still there were civilians at risk. Even with this eminent threat making their way through the debris of spring, there was the high chance they wouldn't be able to save even their own men.

Natsu was on the ground and running for the camp grounds before Gray had the chance to ask what he'd seen. It was a blind-sided attack—and where the hell were the men on watch over there? Where the hell was the warning?

He was slowing down to a jog as he inched closer to the camp—but it all seemed too obvious to even him. Why make the tread for the attack so evident? Where was the secrecy? The famous strategic tactics in warfare Tartarus had been known for? Why were they just moving through the forest without bothering to hide themselves?

Did they really think Fiore's army didn't stand a chance?

It couldn't be. Even the strongest opponent has to keep their senses high.

Somewhere behind him there was a shift and then Natsu was pinned against the thick trunk of an oak. "Don't move," Gray said. Natsu pushed him off and peered over the trunk of the tree, they were just meters from the camp's grounds. "I thought that nose of yours was better than our eyes, Natsu."

But this time he hadn't smelled anything, even then as he took a deep lungful of air, Natsu smelled nothing at all—not even the smell of his own camp. He grabbed at Gray to face him, "Gray—"

"Let go, something's up you id—"

"I think the Gorgonlae was a trap."

"No, shit. Get your head out of the gutter, Natsu. Keep your voice down—"

"Just listen, damn it!" he was whispering urgently, his words tripping over one another not coming out fast enough to relay his message. "I think it messed with my nose. Somehow managed to reset the smells I already knew like the camps and everyone inside of camp, I can't track them—I didn't notice before but right now—"

"Those bastards," Gray murmured. "But how would they know, you're the only one—"

Natsu was running for the camp again, heading straight for Erza's tent when the first set of shots were freed.

Lucy took a step back and then another, "What are you saying to me right now?"

Rage and sympathy mingled together to form the wrinkle between Mavis's brows. "This war isn't about territory, it isn't about the tension as so much the strain of what Fiore still holds home of." Mavis was reaching for Lucy's hand, "Lucy, look at me and take these words. Let them fester inside of you and open the doors yourself before they're exposed by other hands. Make this fire fuel the revolution that's been waiting to breathe. Magic can no longer be a thing of the past."

"Magic?" hysteria was bubbling inside her stomach. "You're telling me this war is about magic?" The talks in the bar, the conversation of fairies during Christmas—her story, they were just that, fiction. Right? A world with magic, what had Makarov said to them… _"In this world there's too much hatred and greed for something pure to exist." _

She needed to keep her head leveled. "What does this have to do with Haru and Natsu?"

"It isn't fully with them, but what they are." Lucy's face pinched with confusion. "They're one of the last remaining from their clan."

"Lucy, they're dragons."

The shots ricocheted to the beat of his heart. One, two, three, one, two, three.

One.

Two.

Three.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>I am so sorry. So, so, soooo, SOOOO, sorry for just leaving on a sort of cliffhanger without any sign of whether I'd be back or not. I really am so sorry that was not fair to you guys. **AND **I'm sorry for leaving you on yet another annoying cliffhanger, but the difference between this one and the last is that this time I actually have the next chapter ready to go and just waiting to be proofread! So please look forward to that, and again I really am so sorry! I have trouble writing dialogue a lot so I hope this short chapter isn't such a cringe but I am really so excited for this story and hope you guys stick around for it too(:

Please leave feedback! I love hearing your opinions and what you think of what's happening.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

Two things came to his mind in the midst of the darkness.

_Cold._

It was so cold.

Like if the feeling wasn't a separate entity but actually him, he was cold. But he wasn't shivering and he wasn't trembling at the thought and hope for heat to come. He was just cold. His fingers, his toes, the nape of his neck, cold. Like a cool, blanket of ice had formed over him.

And then, Lucy.

Was she cold? Instinct told him to move and reach for his left, Lucy's side. But what he felt was a firm—leg? Slowly, his eyes were opening and giving a passage for the light of the evening to hit his face. Except, contrary to what he was waiting for, the light was so bright it made him squint. Blue shimmering light with fragments of ice floated around his blurred vision until it came all into focus: he _was _under a blanket of ice. Or for a lack of a better term, a shield of it.

An ice dome with Gray in the heart of it.

* * *

><p>The beat of her heart had switched. While it was a waltz before, swaying and moving in a rhythmic pace, it was skipping and pounding to a heavier song now. "Dragons?" she almost laughed. "I'm sorry, but how? I've known Natsu practically my whole life. I think—I think if my husband was something other than that I would know."<p>

Mavis offered a small smile. "I know hearing it sounds bizarre, but allow me to explain this to you." Lucy let go of the breath she'd swallowed. "You've known Natsu for most of his life, yes, but there's things even he hasn't realized about himself yet. But to understand all of this you need to believe me when I tell you: magic exists." Her smile was growing as the words poured out of her, "it's something real, Lucy. And it's not just Natsu, all of you have it inside of you. It's been dormant and even though the memory of this has been wiped clean from your mind, it's alive and waiting. It's waiting for the moment where it can flourish just as it did when you were younger."

"Twenty years ago an ordinance was passed that allowed the killing of dragons. Bounties on every head of a clan were placed, Natsu's father being the biggest of all. It was purge, a "cleansing" they called it to rid this eminent threat from the lives of not just Fiore's, but the world's citizens," there was a glaze over her eyes. "It didn't stop there. The heads of every country gathered together in the Summit to agree on the riddance of magic. Together, they signed on the declaration of the end of all magic after the act of deleting it from the minds of the younger generations."

"But the reason there's even strife is because they didn't erase it from the ones who already knew," Lucy said.

Mavis pressed her lips, "There's more to it. When you're young, your minds are fresh, green and so easily to manipulate. Tampering with a mind who's experienced and lived only resulted in costly repercussions. They've tried it, but the experiments conducted only left those mad and unable to continue living on their own. So what was enacted? An oath of secrecy, no one was to mention a word of magic. Of course there was the resistant." Her eyes were fixated on Lucy's. "But they did the unthinkable and stripped us of our dignity. Taking the only thing we had to ourselves, they rid the world of magic."

* * *

><p>Somewhere in a different universe things were different. In an alternate world Natsu never met Lucy, Natsu never married Lucy, Natsu never had a kid with Lucy. Somewhere in a different world, right in this instant, Natsu was dead and the world would have spiraled in an array of different colors. Somewhere in another life Gray had not saved Natsu.<p>

And somewhere in another time there was not the ambushing of two idiots running into the fray of things.

"GRAY?"

"Just run you idiot." His voice was hoarse. "Find the others and go."

Natsu scoffed. Grabbing the hand gun from his boot, he positioned himself behind Gray. "And leave it to you? Hell no."

The hint of a smile crept at the corner of Gray's lips, "listen, I don't know for how much longer this is going to hold up but—"

"Can you run with it?"

"I don't know but—"

"I asked if you could run with it."

"We can figure it out." Natsu managed a laugh. "And, Natsu?" Gray said before readying his stance. "If you cut me off one more time I think I'll personally break the promise I made to Lucy."

* * *

><p>"But the dragons," Mavis continued. "They live on." She took her hand and Lucy watched her with the same dazed fixation she'd looked at Haru with. "With him, with Natsu, they're alive."<p>

A new found bile was forming at the core of her stomach. "I know you want me to take this as good news but I can't help but see this going either way, Mavis."

"It will make sense as the time comes. Right now, heed these words and grip them with your life, do you understand?" Lucy nodded. "All of you have to be stronger now than before, and hold your faith and your trust for each other closer now than ever. Don't let anyone break that, do you hear me? There will be people out now, people you will think you'll be able to trust because of their status, their words, and their charisma but don't—do not ever—take their words over those of your friends." The hand over Lucy's was beginning to fade. Dust of light was flying off the white of her skin and blending into the air between them. "Before I go, take this memory with you. Garnish it in your mind, remember the path like the back of your hand. Be strong, and be brave. And remember," Lucy's lids were closed, but the vision Mavis was passing to her coursed through her body in a flit of warm light.

A rising sun casting the world it awakened into a golden blaze of light. Multitudes of trees rose from the earth, their roots stretching deep within and their trunks stretching to unimaginable heights. And a door with a foreign symbll submerged within one, its hinges falling and opening to a white glow inside.

"The resistance has risen."


End file.
